UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


-Mf —       — ^ 


THE    SHAVING    OF 
SHAGPAT 


THE   SHAVING   OF 
SHAGPAT 


INTERPRETED 

BY 

JAMES  McKECHNIE 


HODDER  AND  STOUGHTON 
LONDON   MCMX 


>   *    >    >  J  ; 


NOTE. 

It  is  not  as  seeking  to  issue  this  book  under 
the  aegis  of  Meredith's  approval  that  his  letter 
appears  here.  Such  approval  as  it  contains  re- 
fers not  to  the  present  work  but  to  an  essay 
published  some  years  ago  on  the  same  subject. 
Meredith's  letter  is  given  because  it  reveals  his 
opinions  not  on  my  work  but  on  his  own.  It 
may  fail  to  convince  certain  folks  that  "The 
Shaving  of  Shagpat"  is  an  Allegory — but  it  can- 
not fail  to  convince  them  that  Meredith  at  least 
intended   it   to   be   so. 


•  •      •  •  • 


s^ 


n 


CONTENTS 


T7? 


PAGE 


FACSIMILE  OF  LETTER  FROM 
MEREDITH 

INTRODUCTION                 -            .  -  g 

THE  WOOINGS   OF  NOORNA 

Preparation      -            -             -  -  25 

Hesitation         "            "            -  -  35 

Decision;           -            -             -  -  49 

THE  QUEST  OF  THE  SPELLS 

Insight               -             -            -  .  6y 

Enthusiasm      -            -            .  .  yg 

Idealism            -            -            _  .  89 

THE  SWAY  OF  RABESQURAT 

Speculation      -             -             -  .  log 

Illusion              -             .            -  _  123 

Vanity                -             .            -  .  141 

DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

Purgation          -            -            -  -  159 

Equipment       -            .             .  .  ijj 

Temptation      -            -            -  -  193 

THE  BALDNESS  OF  SHAGPAT 

^                        Plottings           -            -            -  -  211 

^I;                       Battles               _            _            .  .  223 


Spoils  .  .  _  -  241 


^[f^'\,   "^^^  ^0^ 


BOX     HILL, 

DORKING 


U  Sous  ^'lU-^'^^^'^'^^'^ 


INTRODUCTION 


WHY  make  a  riddle  of  truth,  as  if 
truth  were  not  riddle  enough  in 
itself?  When  poser  of  this  sort 
is  put  to  the  defender  of  allegory,  let 
him  know  himself  in  hearing  of  the 
triumphant  neighings  of  horse-sense, 
and  maintain  respedtful  silence.  Before 
a  tribunal  amenable  to  finer  pleadings 
it  may  avail  him  to  claim  for  allegory 
that  it  is  self-help  translated  into  a  lit- 
erary expedient  —  that  between  other 
books  and  it  the  difference  is  as  be- 
tween giving  a  man  a  dinner  of  venison 
and  showing  him  the  deer-tracks  in 
the  fore^,  inviting  him  to  capture  his 
dinner.  For  while  allegory  is  provo- 
cative and  regulative  of  ideas,  it  cannot 
be  said  to  gift  them.  It  is  merely  an 
empty  mould,  stimulating  and  guiding 
in  us  an  outflow  of  thought  to  its  up- 
filling.  To  read  allegory  is  thus  to  read 
oneself.     It  is   a  magnet   to    draw   out 

9 

B 


INTRODUCTION 

and  a  mirror  to  reflecft  a  man  to  him- 
self, so  bringing  him  into  possession 
of  the  hidden  resources  of  his  own 
thought.  For  this  reason —  provided 
always  that  the  truth  concealed  be,  on 
its  own  merits  worth  finding  —  must 
not  that  game  of  hide  and  seek  with 
it,  which  allegory  essentially  is,  be  de- 
declared  of  all  intellectual  games  the 
one   w^hose  rew^ards  are  noblest? 

Among  English  Allegories  "The  Pil- 
grim's Progress"  and  "The  Shaving  of 
Shagpat"  form  a  class  by  themselves, 
and  stand  to  each  other  in  remarkable 
relationship.  Never  were  two  works 
more  similar  yet  dissimilar  in  all  res- 
pects. Almost  the  most  popular  and 
almost  the  least  popular  work  in  our 
language  are  alike  great  Allegories  — 
but  how  different  the  quality  of  their 
greatness!  Of  Bunyan  it  must  be  said 
that  never  did  great  Allegorist  play  the 
game  of  allegory  with  more  merciful 
moderation.  In  his  hands  indeed  it  was 
little  more  than  an  expedient  to  enable 
him  to  describe  man's  hidden  druggies, 
his  religious  experiences,  in  the  form 
of  a  story —  securing  for  it  the  move- 
ment, adventure  and  interest  of  genuine 

ID 


INTRODUCTION 

story.  It  marks  the  triumph  of  his  art 
that  he  accomplished  this  objecfl  with- 
out requiring  to  put  any  but  the  most 
transparent  veil  over  his  truth,  that  he 
su^ained  the  illusion  while  practically 
using  no  illusion.  It  is  impossible  to 
analyse  art  such  as  his;  its  secret  is  the 
inscrutable  secret  of  simplicity.  As  a 
writer  Bunyan  was  supremely  great;  as 
an  ^allegorist  he  was  fortunate  in  his 
genius,  doubly  fortunate  in  its  limita- 
tions. It  is  his  happy  de^iny  to  delight 
all  readers.  Even  those  who  consider 
the  framework  of  his  theology  some- 
what cramped  and  rigid  are  con^rained 
to  admit  that  his  imagination  moves  in 
it  with  admirable  freedom.  "The  Pil- 
grim's Progress"  though  based  on  theo- 
logy is  independent  of  its  changes.  Its 
de^iny,  under  all  changes,  is  to  nestle 
close  to  the  heart  of  humanity,  because 
that  it  itself  is  so  intensely  human. 
Not  then  as  hinting  fault,  but  merely  as 
stating  fact,  is  it  said  that  while  to 
the  extent  to  which  he  used  allegory 
Bunyan  proved  himself  a  great  Alle- 
goric, yet  the  extent  was  limited.  That 
game  at  hide  and  seek  with  truth  which 
allegory,    at    its    most    legitimate,    is  — 

II 


INTRODUCTION 

Bunyan  played  it  in  mo^  merciful 
moderation. 

It  is  difficult,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
exonerate  Meredith  from  the  charge  of 
having  played  the  game  fatally  well. 
If  guilty,  it  aggravates  his  fault  that  for 
quite  half  a  century  he  looked  on  at 
men's  bewilderment  and  misconcep- 
tions in  regard  to  his  work,  and  yet 
uttered  no  word  of  guidance;  that  on 
the  contrary  —  since  they  could  not 
read  his  riddle  — he  seemed  not  unwill- 
ing to  have  it  believed,  rather  indeed 
quizzically  encouraged  the  belief  that 
no   riddle  was   intended. 

This  apparent  indifference  toward  the 
fate  of  his  great  Allegory  mu^  surely 
be  traced  to  something  quite  other  than 
indifference.  Without  pretending  to 
know  the  fadls  I  am  prepared  to  believe 
that  on  none  of  his  works  did  Meredith, 
to  begin  with,  build  such  high  hopes 
as  on  "The  Shaving  of  Shagpat,"  and 
that  to  the  keenness  with  w^hich  he  felt 
the  shattering  of  those  hopes  is  due  the 
fadl  that,  though  the  bent  of  his  genius 
lay  in  the  direction,  he  never  wrote  an- 
other allegory.  What  his  experience 
had  convinced  him  of  was  not,  we  may 

12 


INTRODUCTION 

be  sure,  that  he  was  incompetent  to 
write  allegory,  but  that  the  public  was 
hopelessly  incompetent  to  appreciate  it. 
There  is  no  indifference  so  ^ubborn  as 
that  which  is  rooted  in  despair,  and 
Meredith's  indifference  toward  the  fate 
of  his  Allegory  was  probably  of  this 
nature.  As  to  whether  the  greater 
grievance  lay  with  him  or  the  public 
it  is  difficult  to  decide.  It  is  true  that 
were  the  public  ta^es  and  capabilities 
in  the  matter  of  allegory  raised  to 
the  required  standard  "The  Shaving  of 
Shagpat"  would  be  an  altogether  suc- 
cessful Allegory.  It  is  further  true  that 
so  far  as  it  can  be  called  a  failure, 
it  is  so  only  by  reason  of  its  own  over- 
loaded greatness,  its  own  too  brilliant 
success.  But  ought  not  Meredith  to 
have  better  proportioned  the  gift  to  the 
receiver.?  Mo^  writers  indeed  are 
themselves  so  afflicted  with  mental 
limitations  and  indolences  that  they 
meet  readers  on  an  equal  footing  — 
need,  if  anything,  to  write  up  rather 
than  down  to  them.  But  with  Meredith, 
nimble^  and  strongest  of  mental  ath- 
letes, it  was  different.  By  his  lack  of 
consideration  for  the  public  he  has  suff- 

13 


INTRODUCTION 

ered  not  only  in  popularity  but,  as  I 
think,  in  some  of  the  elements  of  true 
greatness.  He  who  will  not  defer  to 
others'  weakness  is  apt  to  trip  over  his 
own  ^rength,  and  —  speaking  now  of 
his  writings  generally  —  evidence  of 
such  tripping  is  abundant.  Genius  is 
at  its  strongest  when  it  turns  its 
^rength  in  upon  itself  in  wise  self- 
suppression.  Meredith  lacked  in  that 
point  of  ^rength.  His  pages  are  over- 
loaded with  gems  of  imagination,  and 
though  there  be  no  question  as  to  the 
value  of  the  gems,  their  crowded  mul- 
tiplicity comes  in  time  to  bewilder, 
even  seriously  displease.  Simplicity, 
occasional  dullness  even,  would  be  a 
relief  from  the  disturbing  glories  of  his 
^yle.  He  would  be  a  greater  writer  if 
he  were  not  quite  so  great.  He  would 
give  us  more  if  he  gave  us  less.  His 
genius  is  equal  to  most  things  save  the 
task  of  self-suppression. 

Failure  in  relation  to  the  public 
though  Meredith's  Allegory  is  —  when 
men  can  take  on  them  to  deny  that  it 
is  Allegory  at  all,  I  am  put  in  the  pain- 
ful dilemma  of  doubting  whether  it  is 
their    candour    or    their    intelligence    I 

14 


INTRODUCTION 

ought  to  discredit.  Perhaps  it  is  a  litttle 
of  both.  Not  to  speak  of  those  many 
loopholes  in  the  work  which  afford  un- 
mi^akeable  peeps  into  an  under-world 
of  meaning  — the  book  everywhere  car- 
ries a  challenge  on  its  face,  is  indeed, 
in  its  very  construdlion,  a  challenge. 
Fairyland,  to  be  sure,  is  the  land  of  the 
impossible,  but  even  the  impossible  has 
traditional  laws  and  limits.  These 
Meredith  set  at  nought  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  that  his  visit  to  that  realm 
was  not  made  for  its  own  sake,  and 
in  the  devout  spirit  of  fictionist.  Fairy- 
land was  to  him  merely  the  way  out 
to  the  world  of  the  acftual.  All  along 
he  had  his  eye  on  the  adtual  —  hence 
his  otherwise  unaccountable  cantrips, 
the  weight  of  too  complicated  and,  as 
such,  inartistic  invention  ruthlessly  dis- 
loaded  on  that  ethereal  region.  "The 
Shaving  of  Shagpat"  viewed  merely  as 
a  ^ory  has  many  and  rare  excellences, 
but  to  assert  that  it  is  complete  in  itself, 
stands  justified  by  its  own  open  art, 
seems  to  me  a  manife^  misjudgment. 
It  is  a  bewilderment,  a  broken  wonder 
of  a  story  — too  great  yet  not  great 
enough  to  be   complete  in  itself.    The 

15 


INTRODUCTION 

wildness  of  its  fiction  makes  us  suspedl 
that  it  is  meant  for  more  than  fiction; 
its  grotesque  lawlessness  puts  us  in 
search  of  law.  Its  very  contftruction  is 
thus  a  challenge.  Am  I  wrong  in  as- 
suming that  readers  have  quite  gener- 
ally detected  this  challenge,  and  that 
their  subsequent  denial  of  it  is  by  way 
of  being  a  reasoned,  I  will  not  say  a 
disingenuous,  afterthought.^  The  book 
seems  to  have  a  meaning,  but,  they 
argue,  if  it  really  had  one  they  would 
be  able  to  discover  it.  The  facfl  that 
they  cannot  discover  it  is  therefore 
proof  that  it  has  no  meaning.  It  is 
not  so  much  that  men  are  blind  as  that 
they  argue  themselves  into  blindness. 

In  spite  of  the  undeniable  difficulties 
of  his  work,  I  claim  for  Meredith  that 
he  is  an  entirely  honest  allegorist  — 
one  indeed  who  cunningly  conceals  the 
truth,  but  never  by  illegitimate  devices. 
The  grotesque  humour  of  the  book  is 
not  the  lea^  effective  of  such  devices. 
Even  those  who,  from  acquaintance 
.with  his  works,  know  how  serious 
Meredith  can  be  in  his  mirth,  have  been 
taken  in  by  the  wild  humour  of  Shag- 
pat.     For  it  is  no  intellec5lual  je^er  but 

i6 


INTRODUCTION 

the  veritable  god  of  laughter  they  have 
to  do  with  here,  and  truly  his  godship 
has  kept  effective  guard  at  the  portals 
of  allegory.  But  neither  the  humour 
nor  the  romance  of  the  book  can  be 
counted  other  than  legitimate  blinds. 
For  the  romance,  though  possessing  a 
value  and  beauty  of  its  own,  is  yet 
entirely  subservient  to,  made  to  take 
its  direction  from  the  allegory.  Mere- 
dith's work  is  thus  practically  hidden 
in  nothing  but  its  own  light.  Its 
thoughts  are  its  difficulty.  Not  of 
course  that  its  thoughts  are  arcana,  or 
that  ma^ery  of  them  implies  know- 
ledge of  special  philosophy,  ism  of 
any  sort.  An  allegory  whose  kernel  is 
an  ism  always  permits  of  easy  inter- 
pretation. One  has  but  to  know  the 
ism  to  possess  the  key.  But  the  key 
required  for  "The  Shaving  of  Shagpat" 
is  nothing  less  than  the  knowledge  of 
life  itself.  Meredith  was  too  wise  to 
affecfl  secret  wisdom;  too  great  a  thinker 
to  care  much  for  sy^ems  of  thought. 
Valuable  truth,  as  he  knew,  is  never 
secret  truth  —  unless  in  the  sense  of 
being  among  those  open  secrets  which 
every  wind  blows  to  us  and  every  sight 

17 


INTRODUCTION 

reveals.  It  is  thus  the  width,  the  free- 
dom of  his  thought  which  constitute 
its  difficuhy.  Here  let  it  be  said  that 
Bunyan  and  Meredith  in  their  Alle- 
gories alike  grip  life  closely,  earne^ly; 
dealing  not  with  little  truths,  but  with 
the  greatest,  most  universal  truths 
known  to  them.  To  be  sure  even  in 
their  agreement  they  differ;  but  in  re- 
gard to  their  main  difference  too  much 
need  not  be  made.  That  Christian's 
druggie  is  to  save  his  soul  while  Shibli 
Bagarag's  is  to  save  the  world  ought 
not  to  be  considered  a  point  of  hope- 
less antagonism.  It  is  an  antagonism 
which  finds  practical  reconciliation  in 
every  worthy  life.  But  while  both  are 
sides  of  truth,  much  depends  on  which 
side  receives  the  emphasis  —  and  here, 
I  think,  Meredith  was  truer  to  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  than  Bunyan. 
In  fact,  though  it  contains  little  open 
reference  to  Christianity,  "The  Shaving 
of  Shagpat"  is  in  few  if  any  respects 
inferior  to  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress"  as 
an  exponent  of  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
Few  who  have  mastered  Meredith's 
work  will  be  likely  to  question  the 
truth    of    this    statement;     to    others,    I 

i8 


INTRODUCTION 

am  aware,  it  must  appear  absurd. 
Bunyan  did  well  to  represent  his 
hero  as  a  pilgrim;  Meredith  did  better 
to  represent  his  as  a  reformer.  Pil- 
grimage is  a  term  applicable  to  life  in 
general;  but  as  a  noble  life  is  a  druggie 
against  evil,  it  is  more  closely  repre- 
sented in  the  character  of  a  reformer 
—  more  closely  indeed  yet  with  equal 
catholicity.  All  right  workers,  whatever 
their  sphere  of  work,  are  to  be  called 
reformers.  It  is  the  universal  occupa- 
tion .of  good  men.  But  of  course  a 
reformer,  in  the  concrete,  is  a  specially. 
It  is  never  the  universal  he  reforms, 
but  always  and  only  the  particular:  and 
in  directing  his  energies  to  that  par- 
ticular he  must  be  called  a  specialist. 
But  even  as  specialist  he  works  under 
universal  rules.  All  reformers,  though 
engaged  in  dissimilar  work,  must  be 
similarly  equipped  with  respect  to  their 
work.  Hence  the  qualifications  neces- 
sary for  any  reformer  are  the  qualifi- 
cations necessary  for  all.  In  point  of 
training  also  the  special  is  the  way  out 
to  the  universal.  Not  by  toying 
with  many  subjects  but  by  wrestling 
with    one,   does   man   acquire   a   liberal 

19 


INTRODUCTION 

education.  Not  to  be  specialist  is  to  be 
dilettante —  passport  to  the  realm  of  the 
vague  rather  than  the  universal.  Shibli 
Bagarag,  as  shaver  of  Shagpat,  was 
necessarily  a  speciali^  on  Shagpatism; 
but  nowhere  is  his  specialism  obtruded. 
The  Allegory  throughout  is  kept  on  the 
plain  of  universal  truths.  It  is  entirely 
catholic. 

Bunyan's  was  an  intense  imagination. 
All  it  touched  it  made  alive.  But  it  was 
not  an  imagination  rich  in  invention. 
His  symbolism  shows  this.  It  is,  for 
the  most  part,  a  skin-tight  symbolism; 
concealing  the  truth  in  no  more  ser- 
ious fashion  than  a  well  fitting  glove 
conceals  the  hand.  Meredith's  symbol- 
ism, on  the  other  hand,  is  such  as 
only  the  world's  greatest  master  of 
metaphors  could  produce.  You  never 
can  exhaust  it,  seldom  can  be  entirely 
sure  of  it.  It  is  pla^ic,  kaleidoscopic, 
catching  and  reflecting  truth  at  ever 
changing  angles.  If  the  labour  of  in- 
terpreting Bunyan's  symbols  is  small, 
the  reward  is  frequently  not  great. 
What  you  get  is  merely  the  truth,  much 
as  you  knew  it  before,  given  back 
to  you.     But   Meredith's   symbols  gen- 

20 


INTRODUCTION 

erally  reward  your  ma^ery  of  them 
with  floods  of  fresh  light.  His  imagina- 
tion was  of  the  stuff  myths  are  made 
of.  In  "The  Shaving  of  Shagpat"  there 
are  allegories  worthy  for  invention, 
artistic  beauty,  to  rank  with  the  be^  in 
Greek  Mythology;  while  for  spirituality, 
richness  of  meaning,  they  easily  sur- 
pass the  best.  Yet  Meredith's  metaphors 
are  not  to  be  dealt  with  over  strenuous- 
ly. Prosaic  analysis  is  what  few  of 
them  can  bear.  They  are  fairy  coin 
intended  for  currency  in  the  mart  of 
imagination;  creatures  of  the  air  let  me 
rather  call  them  —  butterflies  of  thought 
—  their  utmo^  gift  a  dip  and  glint  pf 
wing  in  the  sunshine.  To  bear  in 
mind  that  "The  Shaving  of  Shagpat" 
is  written  with  the  fine  elusiveness  of 
poetry  is  to  be  in  the  right  attitude 
for  its  ^udy. 

No  gleaning  can  make  bare  the  field 
of  allegory.  On  the  contrary,  so  magical 
is  the  field,  that  the  labours  of  one 
reaper  but  make  possible  a  richer  har- 
ve^  for  those  who  follow.  That  is  my 
justification  for  attempting  this  inter- 
pretation of  "The  Shaving  of  Shagpat." 
Far    from    being    certain    that    I    have 

21 


INTRODUCTION 

succeeded  throughout  in  recovering 
Meredith's  meaning,  I  may  be  prac- 
tically certain  that  I  have  occasionally 
failed.  It  is  well  nigh  impossible  for 
two  minds  to  see  truth  at  exactly  the 
same  angle.  But  to  the  extent  that 
what  I  say  is  at  once  true  to  life  and 
found  to  fit  into  the  mould  of  the 
Allegory,  I  may  claim  it  to  be  a  correct 
interpretation.  But  not  correct  to  the 
exclusion  of  other  interpretations. 
Every  man  reads  life  in  terms  of  his 
own  experience  and  idiosyncrasies  of 
thought;  and  if  another  can  fittingly 
fill  Meredith's  moulds  with  reality  other 
than  mine,  his  interpretation  will  be  as 
legitimate  as  mine.  But  my  belief  in 
regard  to  such  other  interpretations  is 
that  while  they  may  readily  supplement 
and  corredt,  they  will  not  be  antagon- 
istic to,  or  even  on  their  main  lines 
radically    different    from    my    own. 


22 


THE  WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 


PREPARATION. 


NOT  as  foreseeing  but  as  aspiring 
to  direct  the  happenings  of  time 
do  honourable  "readers  of  plan- 
ets" take  on  them  to  predict  great 
things  for  those  of  happy  birthdower. 
They  predict  that  they  may  bring  to 
pass  — the  right  use  of  predic5lion.  See 
the  case  of  Shibli  Bagarag.  Let  Shibli 
Bagarag  be  true  to  himself  —  ^and  by 
his  tackle  —  and  he  will  come  to  great 
things  —  said  the  "readers  of  planets." 
Creative  prophecy,  setting  the  youth's 
heart  on  fire,  making  him  ill  at  ease 
amid  the  delights  of  Shiraz!  Not  that 
he  was  satiated  with  these  delights  — 
his  being  still  the  fir^  keenness  of 
youth;  nor  that  he  nourished  ascetic 
scorn  of  them— a  toothsome  feast,  then 
as  ever,  being  of  honourable  considera- 
tion and  no  hog's  paradise  in  his  eyes. 
But  to  be  sitting  at  ease  in  Shiraz 
"partaking   of   seasoned,   sweet   dishes, 

c 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

dipping  his  fingers  in  them"  while  that 
prophecy  of  the  "readers  of  planets" 
•was  not  fulfilled,  nor  in  smallest  way 
of  fulfilment  — no  longer  could  he  en- 
dure the  self-scorn  of  it.  It  was  up 
and  away  with  Shibli  Bagarag,  roaming 
the  world,  searching  it  for  greatness. 
Ahj  weary  search,  bitter  disillusion- 
ment! After  he  has  travelled  far,  been 
a  tempter  of  destiny,  a  picker  up  of 
experience  in  many  lands,  he  comes  to 
us  for  introduction.  At  a  glance  we 
see  things  have  not  gone  well  with  him. 
On  his  own  confession  they  have  gone 
deplorably  ill.  He  is  hungry,  digressed, 
in  need  of  all  things.  But  greatness  — 
ah,  of  your  charity  invite  the  poor 
youth  to  dinner,  and  taunt  him  not 
with  wild-goose  chase  after  greatness. 
Is  not  the  experience  of  ambitious 
youth  in  general  truthfully  mirrored 
here  ?  "Readers  of  planets,"  predicflors 
of  great  things  —  sanguine  parents  sel- 
dom fail  to  act  as  such  to  their  children. 
But  should  they  fail,  children  of  the 
right  sort  are  at  no  loss.  Prede^ination 
is  the  creed  of  humanity,  of  no  portion 
of  it  more  devoutly  so  than  the  youth- 
ful. To  believe  in  one's  star  is  to  believe 

26 


PREPARATION 

in  oneself,  and  in  more  than  oneself. 
Belief  in  self  merely  is  too  narrow  a 
basis  on  which  to  build  a  noble  life. 
It  is  necessary  to  feel  that  the  universe 
is  cognisant  of  you,  has  place  and  work 
set  apart  for  you,  that  in  the  building 
of  God's  temple  a  certain  ^one  is  for 
your  hands  and  none  other's  to  place. 
If  you  call  this  fatalism,  call  it  also, 
since  it  lives  only  as  wedded  to  adlion, 
by  the  nobler  name  of  faith.  It  is  the 
characteristic  of  faith  that  it  finds  itself 
only  in  action.  Action  turns  the  jelly- 
fish into  the  vertebrate,  pious  dream 
into  ma^erful  faith.  Man  never  truly 
believes  until  he  is  at  some  sacrifice 
for  belief's  sake.  Before  Abraham  could 
become  "the  Father  of  the  Faithful" 
he  had  to  turn  his  back  on  home  and 
kindred,  grip  God  by  the  hand,  fare 
forth  with  Him  into  the  unknown.  So 
with  Shibli  Bagarag  —  he  who  deserted 
the  "seasoned,  sweet  dishes  of  Shiraz," 
faced  hunger,  misery,  peril  in  search 
of  great  things.  Before  you  can  enter 
any  right  path  in  life  you  mu^  pay 
toll  by  an  act  of  sacrifice.  Always  mu^ 
there  be  the  giving  up  of  something 
in    order   to   seek   a   better   something; 

27 


THE   WOOINGS    OF    NOORNA 

always  also  the  agony  of  hope  deferred 
in  regard   to   that  better   something. 

Shibli  Bagarag's  outward  condition, 
at  our  meeting  with  him,  is  bad;  but 
how  as  to  his  inward  condition  ?  A 
man,  after  all,  carries  his  fortune  in  his 
heart:  if  Shibli  Bagarag's  heart  is  reso- 
lute, the  digress  of  his  condition  may 
be  merely  a  sign  that  he  is  on  the  right 
path,  the  "steep  and  thorny  road"  ap- 
pointed unto  candidates  for  greatness. 
On  his  starting  out  from  Shiraz  there 
yras  round  his  soul,  screening  it  from 
life's  realities,  a  cosy  cloak  of  illusion, 
woven  of  self-love  and  inexperience. 
What,  now  that  the  world  has  had  time 
to  batter  it  with  realities,  is  Shibli 
Bagarag  doing  with  this  cloak  .^  Is  he 
tearing  it  from  or  drawing  it  desper- 
ately round  his  soul  — exposing  it  to, 
or  patching,  thickening  it  again^  fur- 
ther batterings  of  reality?  Why  as  to 
that  —  and  with  Meredith  it  is  the  test 
question  of  lif e  —  you  will  judge  the 
youth  unfavourably  if  you  take  serious 
account  of  his  mouthings,  impeach- 
ments of  the  universe  in  the  matter  of 
greatness  and  dinner,  both  shamefully 
overdue.    But  in  the  bad  old  days  when 

28 


PREPARATION 

flogging  was  the  law  of  the  Navy, 
sailors  under  the  lash  had  licence  of 
speech,  could  mouth  mutiny  and  no 
notice  taken.  So  of  your  charity  deal 
with  Shibli  Bagarag,  for  the  words  of 
the  desperate  are  not  to  be  criticised. 
And  note,  for  it  is  here  that  you  see 
the  real  man,  that  though  the  youth 
laments  the  loss  of  the  "flesh  pots"  he 
makes  no  motion  to  return  to  them, 
and  truly  had  he  been  mindful  he  might 
have  had  opportunity  to  return.  The 
"  seasoned,  sweet  dishes  of  Shiraz " 
haunt  his  imagination,  but  his  will,  the 
citadel  of  self,  remains  unmoved.  Back 
to  Shiraz  he  will  not  go.  Say  it  was 
only  stubbornness,  but  know  that  in 
stubbornness  — that  last  refuge  of  batt- 
ered egoism  —  a  man's  guardian  angel 
may  sometimes  shelter.  Stubbornness 
is  the  will  at  bay,  deserted  or  seemingly 
deserted,  even  by  reason,  its  lawful  ally. 
But  reason  often  visits  man  incognito: 
a  stubborn  man  may  well  be  one  in 
receipt  of  such  visit.  In  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  case  stubbornness  was  wisdom. 
Is  it  not  time  the  youth,  were  finding, 
settling  down  to  work  ?  Consider  his 
ripeness,  verging   on   over-ripeness  for 

29 


THE  WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

work.      He    has    tutored    himself    into 
much  manhood,  has  roamed  the  world, 
endured— complainingly  indeed  yet  also 
unflinchingly —  hunger,     hardship,      the 
wor^  of  fortunes.     That  golden  dream 
which  his  ambition  was  at  first  setting 
out  from  Shiraz— life's  disillusionments 
have  not  dispelled  it,  merely  hardened 
it    into    set    resolution.      The    youth    is 
driven  in  upon  himself  to  the  invigor- 
ating, enriching  of  his  manhood.    This 
driving   of  self  in   upon  self  is  among 
the  chief  gains   of  life's  buffetings.   To 
mo^    candidates    for    greatness     there 
comes  a  time  —  it  is  their  supreme  test- 
ing   time  — when    their   glad,    expansive 
faith   in   their  star  seems   to   condense, 
shrivel  up,  become  nothing  more  than 
a     minute,     diamond-pointed     faith     in 
themselves.  They     carry     then     the 

burden  of  their  destinies  in  the  form 
of  a  bare  resolution.  The  stars  in  their 
courses  fight  against  them,  and  they, 
in  divine  rebelliousness,  fight  against 
the  stars  in  their  courses.  This  is  in- 
deed the  supreme  tonic  of  the  human 
spirit  — this  isolation  which  reveals  to 
it  the  awful  strength  of  its  own  spirit- 
hood.    But  to  spirit  as  little  as  to  body 

30 


PREPARATION 

are  tonics  substitute  for  food.  Shibli 
Bagarag  for  the  present  has  had  enough 
of  tonics;  if  kept  much  longer  on  them 
the  medicinal  bitterness  will  for  him 
turn  poisonous.  His  spirit  will  be  de- 
voured by  its  own  energies;  as  an 
unused  sword  it  will  "eat  into  itself 
for  lack  of  something  else  to  hew  and 
hack,"  yea  his  life  being  thus  a  mere 
fever  will  pass  altogether  out,  con- 
sumed by  its  own  fires.  No  further 
progress  on  right  lines  can  Shibli  Bag- 
arag make  until  he  finds  work.  Faults 
of  character  in  plenty  he  ^ill  has,  but 
are  they  such  as  in  his  present  position 
he  can  afford  to  part  with?  His  boast- 
ings, for  instance,  hateful  though  they 
would  be  in  a  successful  man,  are  they 
not  permissible,  almost  admirable,  in 
virile  failure  such  as  he  ?  Confessedly 
he  is  an  inchoate  man,  his  virtues  but 
crabbed  virtues,  half-kin  to  vices,  but 
what  will  you  have  of  a  failure }  'Tis 
the  sunshine  that  sweetens:  let  Shibli 
Bagarag  get  into  the  sunshine.  Every- 
thing he  has  learned  in  the  school  of 
failure  let  him,  for  his  soul's  health, 
not  unlearn  but  relearn  in  the  school 
of  success.     Then,   not   till   then,   may 

31 


THE   WOOINGS    OF    NOORNA 

the  man  be  "clothed  in  humility." 
The  Unseen  Powers  have  not  been 
disregardful  of  Shibli  Bagarag,  nor  have 
they  kept  him  needlessly  waiting.  His 
preliminary  drill,  every  hour  of  it,  has 
been  necessary  to  put  him  in  condition 
to  look  at,  consent  to  parley  with  such 
messenger  as  they  intend  to  send.  Now 
that  he  is  in  condition  Noorna  bin 
Noorka  appears,  offering  him  his  com- 
mission; and  'tis  the  commission  to 
shave   Shagpat. 

So  broad  is  Shagpat's  back  he  can 
bear  almo^  any  evil  meaning  that  can 
be  put  on  him.  Every  man  may  there- 
fore in  regard  to  him  make  "private 
interpretation."  Any  established  evil, 
any  baneful  super^ition,  any  tyranny 
of  lies  is  Shagpat.  To  remove  an  abuse 
whether  in  Church,  State  or  village 
community  is  to  shave  Shagpat.  All 
that  is  demanded  is  that  it  be  an  ob- 
jecflive  evil,  something  that  hurts  the 
world.  Not  that  the  Allegory  does 
not  take  recognition  —  it  takes  very 
ample  recognition  —  of  the  exigence  of, 
the  necessity  for  shaving  inward  Shag- 
pats,  those  Shagpats  that  abide  in  and 
blight  the  soul  of  man.     None  the  less 

32 


PREPARATION 

it  will  have  no  diredl  tinkering  with 
the  soul,  for  of  such  tinkering  spiritual 
hypochondria,  worse  evils  come.  To 
secure  the  blessings  of  spiritual  training 
without  the  evils  of  spiritual  tinkering, 
devotion  to  the  shaving  of  some  Shag- 
pat  is  necessary.  Without  such  devo- 
tion, with  its  outpouring  of  healthy 
activity,  man,  if  he  awakens  into  spirit- 
uality at  all,  can  only  awaken  into 
morbid  spirituality.  He  becomes  a 
peevish  student  of  symptoms,  a  feeler 
of  the  pulse  of  his  soul;  so  making 
hypochondriac  havoc  of  his  conscience. 
For  the  right  development  of  his  man- 
hood it  is  necessary  therefore  that  he 
devote  himself  in  loving  hatred  to  the 
shaving  of  some  one  or  other  of  the 
world's  Shagpats.  The  Allegory  is 
framed  in  full  recognition  of  this  truth. 
Shibli  Bagarag  undergoes  a  strenuous 
spiritual  training,  but  the  direct  object 
of  his  training  is  not  to  save  himself, 
but  to  make  himself  a  Sword  for  the 
saving   of  men. 

As  for  the  Shagpat  which  Shibli  Bag- 
arag is  commissioned  to  shave  —  if  it  is 
for  our  mental  convenience  to  interpret 
him  with  some  measure  of  definiteness, 

33 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

—we  may  say  that  he  represents  a  false 
faith,  a  faith  that  dominates,  and  dom- 
inates only  to  blight,  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men.  That  would  imply  that 
Shagpat  is  an  in^itution.  The  law  of 
life  is  externalisation.  Everything  is 
irresistibly  driven  to  create  for  itself  a 
body:  until  it  has  a  body  it  is  not 
strictly  among  the  things  that  are  at 
all.  Shagpat  then  is  an  in^itution,  a 
false  faith  embodied  in  an  institution. 
The  greatness,  wide  extent  of  his  power, 
is  a  point  to  be  noticed.  "There  be 
governments  and  ^ates,  and  conditions 
of  men  remote,  that  hang  on  him, 
Shagpat."  Clearly  he  stands  high  in 
the  hierarchy  of  falsehood,  is  indeed 
the  reigning  falsehood  of  the  day;  men 
for  the  mo^  part  not  yet  knowing  him 
to  be  false.  Rather  do  they  "crowd 
and  crush  and  hunger  to  adore  him" 
being  "held  in  enchantment  by  him, 
and  made  foolish  by  one  hair  that's  in 
his  head."  It  is  this  Shagpat,  mighty, 
enthroned  lie  — believed  in,  upheld  by 
peoples  and  empires  —  that  Shibli  Baga- 
rag  is  commissioned  to  shave.  Truly  the 
youth's  opportunity  has  come  at  last. 
Will   he   have   courage   to   embrace   it? 

34 


HESITATION. 


IDEAS  prove  themselves  living  by 
changing,  passing  into  something 
else,  "dying  to  live."  Such  an  idea 
is  Noorna  bin  Noorka  —  creature  hence 
of  transformations,  surprises.  In  the 
^ory  she  is  represented  as  conveying  to 
Shibli  Bagarag  the  idea  of  shaving 
Shagpat,  in  reality  she  is  herself  that 
idea  personified.  It  is  not  however  in 
the  ab^ract,  or  in  relation  to  men  in 
general,  but  in  relation  to  Shibli  Bag- 
arag that  she  is  so.  She  is  the  idea 
as  it  strikes,  appeals  to  him,  strictly 
thus  his  idea  of  shaving  Shagpat.  As 
engaging,  monopolising  his  thoughts 
and  activities  she  of  necessity  is  con- 
tinually taking  on  new  aspects,  breaking 
out  into  fresh  inspirations,  gathering 
to  herself  ever  richer  and  more  varied 
meanings.  Hence  her  amazing  trans- 
formations, necromancies,  cantrips.  No 
cantrips  would  she  exhibit  were  she  a 

35 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

still-born  idea  enthroned  —  the  fate  of 
such  —  as  mummy-idol  on  the  "god- 
shelf"  of  the  mind;  her  consistency 
then  would  be  of  the  kind  to  evoke  the 
enthusiasm  of  fools.  But  such  as  she 
is,  Nooma  is  the  heart  of  the  Allegory 
—  the  finest  and  subtlest  of  allegorical 
chara(5lers. 

Were  she  an  academic  idea  Shibli 
Bagarag  might  be  writing  essays,  songs 
even,  in  praise  of  her  beauty.  But  as 
a  pradlical,  imperative  idea  he  finds  her 
repulsive.  Many  kinds  of  miracles  may 
happen,  but  miracles  of  ugliness  never 
happen.  Nevertheless  Shibli  Bagarag's 
repugnance  demanding,  for  the  inten- 
sity of  it,  such  miracle  as  symbolism, 
Noorna  is  depicted  as  impossibly  ugly. 
Even  so  he  cannot  lightly  reject  her. 
Repellent  though  she  is  to  flesh  and 
blood,  she  yet  "in^igateth  keenly," 
stirs  up,  makes  such  mighty  challenge 
to  his  manhood  that  he  cannot  lightly 
reject  her.  Know  Noorna  therefore  for 
what  she  is,  "Stern  Daughter  of  the 
Voice  of  God,"  member  of  the  Royal 
Family  of  the  Duties,  ugliest  marriage- 
able member  of  the  Family  !  'Tis  a 
great  point  in  her  favour,  this  ugliness. 

36 


HESITATION 

Life  brings  many  pleasant  duties,  their 
pleasantness  making  them  none  the  less 
duties,  but  through  their  discharge  can 
no  man  come  to  greatness.  The  duties 
which  bring  us  our  opportunity,  through 
which  we  discipline  our  souls,  wre^le 
into  strength,  glory  — all  of  them  are 
stern,  forbidding  of  feature.  'Tis  then 
a  great  point  in  Noorna's  favour,  her 
divine  ugliness.  Here,  now  that  she  is 
of  marriageable  years,  is  she,  according 
to  the  custom  of  her  Family,  wooing 
among  the  sons  of  men,  seeking  some 
best  and  bravest  youth  to  be  her  be- 
trothed. Splendid  yet  fearsome  luck 
for  Shibli  Bagarag  should  he  prove  the 
youth.  Him  will  she  lead  through 
thwacks    into    glory ! 

Meantime  'tis  to  be  taken  as  rio  bad 
sig^  that  he  coquettes  but  squeamishly 
with  Noorna.  Men  defined  to  move 
the  world  are  never  of  the  light-o'-love 
order,  themselves  easily  moved.  They 
come  profoundly  rather  than  rapidly 
under  new  influence.  The  conservative 
instinct  is  strong  in  them,  indeed  true 
reformers  are  almost  necessarily  con- 
servative at  heart.  They  are  too  reverent 
to  be  cheerfully  iconoclastic.  The  thing 

37 


463853 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

that  has  forced  its  way  into  actuality 
is  for  them  a  thing  not  to  be  suppressed 
otherwise  than  with  due  hesitation.  For 
they  judge  that  if  there  is  the  law 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  there 
is  also  the  law  of  the  coming  into 
being  of  the  fittest.  The  thing  that 
has  struggled  out  of  nothingness  into 
being  has  in  their  eyes  at  least  a 
presumptive  right  to  be.  Possession 
is  nine  points  of  the  law,  and  existence 
is  nine  points  of  its  own  justification  — 
so  to  begin  with,  the  men  destined  to 
reform  the  world  often  think.  Certainly 
he  who  enters  on  the  work  of  reform, 
especially  religious  reform,  with  a  light 
heart  is  little  likely  to  prove  a  great 
reformer.  Your  very  superior  cosmo- 
politan person  who  can  lay  his  finger 
inerrantly,  in  indeed  a  quite  suave 
omniscience,  on  the  shortcomings  and 
superstitions  of  human  creeds  —  to  be 
sure  it  would  not  cost  him  a  groan  to 
shave  Shagpat,  and  by  that  token  he 
never  can  shave  Shagpat.  To  qualify 
for  becoming  a  liberator  of  the  world 
a  man  must  generally  himself  have 
been  in  bondage.  It  is  in  the  process 
of  emancipating  himself  that  he  eman- 

38 


HESITATION 

cipates  the  world.  This  accounts  for 
the  gradual  nature  of  Luther's  "Reform- 
ation," and  for  the  heart-searchings  it 
occasioned  him.  He  began  to  be  an 
iconoclast  before  he  had  ceased  being 
a  worshipper,  to  attack  the  Church  be- 
fore he  had  ceased  to  number  himself 
among  her  mo^  dutiful  sons.  So  cher- 
ished was  his  heritage  of  reverence  for 
Papal  authority  that  in  fighting  against 
Rome,  he  felt  himself,  almost  to  the 
la^,  fighting  against  himself.  Luther 
also  had  much  squeamish  coquetting 
with  his  Nooma. 

Nevertheless,  all  allowance  being 
made,  Shibli  Bagarag's  fir^  concession 
to  Noorna  cannot  be  described  as  other 
than  a  too  ungallant  one.  For  what 
does  he,  as  opening  move  in  campaign, 
but  make  petition  to  the  king  —  a 
monstrously  hairy  king  —  saying:  "It 
is  my  prayer  O  King  of  the  age 
that  thou  take  me  under  thy  protec- 
tion, and  the  shield  of  thy  fair  will, 
while  I  perform  good  work  in  this  city 
by  operating  on  the  unshorn."  Now 
que^ionable  in  point  of  expediency  and 
morals  though  the  policy  must  appear, 
Shibli  Bagarag  is  not  necessarily  to  be 

39 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

blamed  for  this  attempt  to  enli^  hair 
as  ally  in  battle  against  hairiness.  In 
great  enterprises  great  risks  must  be 
taken.  To  be  fastidious  is  to  be  im- 
potent. To  insist  that  because  your 
cause  is  saintly  your  army  must  be 
composed  of  saints  is  to  be  quixotic. 
Had  Shibli  Bagarag  sought  this  hairy 
king's  patronage  because  he  believed 
it  would  afford  him  the  best,  most 
effective  means  of  shaving  Shagpat,  no 
blame  might  have  been  his.  But  that 
was  not  what  he  was  thinking  on.  How 
to  save  his  own  skin  was  what  he  was 
thinking  on.  This  shaving  of  Shagpat 
promises  to  be  dreadful  work.  It  means 
nothing  less  than  upsetting  the  world, 
playing  havoc  with  the  reverences,  the 
conservatisms,  the  superstitions  of  men; 
'tis  certain  there  will  be  thwacks,  sting- 
ing ones,  going  in  such  an  enterprise. 
Shibli  Bagarag  cannot  see  his  way  to 
undertake  it  unless  his  personal  safety 
is  guaranteed.  But  the  king's  protec- 
tion would  be  a  sufficient  insurance 
policy  again^  thwacks;  give  him  that 
and,  Allah  helping  him,  he  would  pro- 
ceed to  shave  Shagpat.  Yes,  with  a 
blunted    razor,    the    price,    as    he    must 

40 


HESITATION 

know,  of  such  a  king's  protection  being 
the  blunting  of  his  razor.  Truly  Shibli 
Bagarag's  first  concession  to  Noorna  is 
a  too  ungallant  one.  It  is  also,  in  re- 
lation to  his  own  purposes,  a  foolish 
'one.  The  man  who  aspires  to  climb 
the  heights  of  ambition  with  an  insur- 
ance policy  against  thwacks  in  his 
pocket,  is  but  one  of  fortune's  fools, 
with  whom  good  sport  will  be  made. 
In  a  fight  downright  bravery  is  the  be^ 
coat  of  arms;  and  downright  cowardice 
has  at  least  the  negative  merit  of  keep- 
ing man  out  of  a  fight.  But  cowardly 
courage,  in  its  struggle  to  face  danger 
safely,  merely  exposes  itself  to  the  more 
abundant  danger.  None  the  less  since 
bravery  is  not  the  absence  of,  but  the 
triumph  over  fear,  much  is  to  be  said 
in  favour  of  cowardly  courage.  Shibli 
Bagarag  moves  indeed  in  an  ungallant 
fashion,  but  please  remember  he  is  the 
only  man  gallant  enough  to  move  in 
any  fashion.  The  important  thing,  for 
the  present,  is  that  he  is  on  the  move 
at  all.  Heroes  are  not  made  in  a  day; 
much  thwacking  is  required  for  the 
making  of  a  hero ;  and  Shibli  Bagarag's 
luck  in  this  matter  is  little  likely  to  fail 

41 


THE  WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

him.  Fail  him  it  would  were  the  King 
to  grant  his  reque^;  a  pitiful  spectacle 
he  would  then  present,  hacking  feebly 
at  Shagpat  with  blunted  razor.  But 
praise  the  Disposer  of  Destinies,  the 
King  proves  a  fool,  commands  on  ad- 
vice of  cunning  Vizier  Feshnavat  that 
the  youth  "be  summoned  to  a  sense 
of  the  loathsomeness  of  his  craft  by 
the  agency  of  fifty  stripes."  And  that 
was  what  came  of  Shibli  Bagarag's  in- 
genious attempt  to  take  out,  at  the 
expense  of  Noorna,  an  insurance  policy 
again^  thwacks.  The  like  good  fortune 
to  all  who  prefer  their  skin  to  their 
Nooma. 

But  Shibli  Bagarag  is  not  the  youth 
to  abandon  his  enterprise  because  he 
cannot  be  guaranteed  against  danger. 
If  he  does  not  as  yet  summon  to  him- 
self genuine  courage,  he  at  least  draws 
upon  the  resources  of  his  own  san- 
guineness,  assures  himself  that  after 
all  the  danger  is  not  great.  It  is  not 
as  if  he  were  Shagpat's  enemy,  or  had 
any  intention  of  making  war  on  gen- 
uine Shagpatism.  The  very  reverse  is 
the  case.  It  is  because  he  reverences 
Shagpat  so,  that  he  hates  to  see  Shag- 

42 


HESITATION 

pat's  disfiguring  hairs.  His  purposes 
toward  the  man  of  hair  are  genuinely 
benevolent  —  as  benevolent,  say,  as,  to 
begin  with,  were  those  of  Luther  to- 
wards Rome  — why  then  should  he 
anticipate  enmity?  "Enter  thou  to  him 
gaily,  as  to  perform  a  friendly  office, 
one  meriting  thanks  and  gratulation, 
saying  'I  will  preserve  thee  the  Iden- 
tical.' "  Thus  counselled  Noorna,  her 
counsel,  here  as  always,  representing 
the  working  of  Shibli  Bagarag's  own 
thought.  So  mode^,  so  manifestly 
necessary  is  the  measure  of  reform  he 
contemplates  that  from  no  quarter,  lea^ 
of  all  from  Shagpat,  need  he  anticipate 
serious  opposition.  Shagpat's  hairiness 
must  be  a  burden  to  himself.  Like  as 
not  he  is  secretly  longing  for  the  ser- 
vices of  barbercraft,  a  thing  hitherto 
impossible  to  be  got  in  this  accursed 
city.  When  therefore  a  friendly,  con- 
servative shave  is  offered  hirn,  will 
Shagpat  not  be  glad.^  Shibli  Bagarag 
will  undertake  not  to  remove  one  hair 
more  than  the  stridt  interests  of  health 
and  decency  demand;  in  any  case,  and 
above  all,  he  will  undertake  that  the 
Magical  Hair,  the  Identical,  will  not  be 

43 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

removed,  interfered  with  in  the  least 
degree.  Why  then  should  Shagpat  not 
be  glad?  For  this  preserving  of  the 
Identical  means  sub^antial  immunity 
for  Shagpat.  It  means  that  only  cer- 
tain disfiguring  hairs,  flagrant  abuses, 
adhering  to  him  are  to  be  attacked, 
that  he  in  his  essential  self  is  to 
be  held  sacred,  let  remain  identic- 
ally as  he  is.  Blame  not  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  if  in  thus  limiting  the  scope 
of  his  reform,  he  has  been  to  some 
extent  influenced  by  a  desire  to  pro- 
pitiate Shagpat.  Compromise  is  the  law 
of  human  relationship.  Government 
means  either  compromise  or  tyranny. 
No  reformation  accomplished  by  meth- 
ods of  compromise  can  indeed  be 
thorough  in  its  nature,  but  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  does  not,  cannot  in  terms  of  his 
present  convicflions  aim  at  thorough- 
ness. He  is  a  conservative  reformer. 
His  ideals  are  in  the  pa^  rather  than  in 
the  future.  His  aim  is  not  to  overturn 
but  to  restore,  bring  back  what  he 
conceives  to  be  the  good  old  days  of 
Shagpatian  simplicity.  His  scheme  of 
reform  is  thus  a  meagre  one,  fitted 
indeed   by    its   meagreness    to    provoke 

44 


HESITATION 

the  scorn  of  dreamers.  But  omni- 
potence is  easy  in  dreamland.  A 
dreamer  need  not  limit  his  dream  to 
some  modest  remedying  of  earth's 
inju^ice;  he  may  as  well,  when  at 
it,  dream  of  creating  a  new  heaven  and 
earth  altogether.  But  for  Shibli  Baga- 
rag,  a  practical  youth  cautiously  feeling 
his  way  among  things  practical,  this 
modest  beginning  must  be  declared 
excellent.  It  gives  promise  that  he 
will  prove  a  reformer  with  progressive 
ideals,  one  working  to  no  ^ereotyped 
plan,  but  as  accepting  the  guidance  of, 
likely  to  guide  the  march  of  events. 
They  who  see  the  shortest  distance 
before  them  often  go  furthest,  for  as 
they  aim  at  no  definite  goal,  no  definite 
goal  can  satisfy  them.  The  reform 
Shibli  Bagarag  proposes  is  confessedly 
quite  inadequate,  but  let  him  set  about 
it  in  earnest,  taking  no  further  counsel 
with  the  delicacy  of  his  skin,  and  no 
fear  but  the  educative  and  compulsive 
power  of  circum^ances  will  drive  him 
far  enough. 

Note  well,  as  immediate  illustration 
of  the  educative  and  compulsive  power 
of  circum^ances,  the  interview  between 

45 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

the  barber  and  the  man  of  hair.  There 
is    fine    condensation    of    hi^ory    here; 
whole  chapters  of  it,  shorn  of  acciden- 
tals yet  retaining  their  full  essence,  are 
here.     The  reformer  and  the  thing,  the 
institution,    to   be    reformed  —  often   as 
they  have  stood  thus  front  to  front  in 
friendly,   unfriendly   conference  —  when 
did    ever    conference    end    other    than 
did  this   one.?     Shagpat   declines   to   be 
shaved,    takes   mere   mention    of   shave 
as    unfriendly    adl,    deserving   thwacks. 
Things   needing   to   be   reformed   never 
accept,  otherwise  than  on  compulsion, 
the  attention  of  reformers.    Even  when 
under  compulsion  they  have  many  de- 
vices to  wriggle  out  of  such  attentions; 
one    of    them,    the    cleverer,    being    to 
protest  that  they  themselves  are  reform- 
ers.    "There' s  no   denying  that  I  need 
a  shave,  but  I'  11  have  no  barbers  about 
me.     I'  m   going   to   shave   myself,    can 
manage  it  quite  well."     In  that  find  epi- 
tome of  not  a  few  hi^orical  utterances. 
Not  however  an  epitome   of  Shagpat's 
utterance.     He  being  in  his  might  and 
not  yet  knowing  fear,  delivers  himself 
of  this  tit-bit  of  eloquence:— "A  barber! 
a  barber!    Is 't  so.?    Can  it  he?    To  me? 

46 


HESITATION 

A  barber,  O  thou,  thou  reptile!  filthy 
thing!  A  barber,  O  dog,  a  barber?  .  ,  .  " 
Howlings,  snortings  of  insensate  rage, 
call  you  these  ?  Yes,  but  none  the 
less  true  representation  of  the  heart 
thoughts  of  proud  sons  of  privilege 
and  abuse  when  reformers  would  in- 
terfere. With  their  lips  they  may  speak 
otherwise  —  lip-masters  of  polite  casu- 
istry they  mostly  are  —  but  in  their 
hearts  it  is  ever:— "Confound  their  in- 
solence! How  dare  they,  the  unwashed 
dogs,  presume  to  meddle  with  us." 
Verily  for  the  felicity  of  it  Shagpat's 
speech  is  a  very  tit-bit  of  speech, 
representative  of  w^orld-wide  Shagpat- 
ism.  For  the  rest,  and  here  also  in 
significant  irony,  Shagpat  is  an  impos- 
ing nonentity.  To  sit  in  preternaturally 
vacuous  solemnity  at  his  shop-front  is 
the  earthly  task  of  Shagpat.  What 
matters  it  if  the  head  that  wears  the 
Magical  hair  be  somewhat  brainless.-* 
Has  he  not,  as  Lord  of  that  Hair, 
millions  of  brains  at  his  service  .•*  Surely 
it  is  enough  earthly  task  for  Shagpat 
that  he  look  preternaturally  solemn, 
and,  when  in  the  mood  for  exercise,  loll, 
twiddle  his  thumbs  a  little  at  shop-front. 

47 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

Shibli  Bagarag's  appeal  to  Shagpat 
ends  in  failure,  and  in  the  concomitant 
of  failure,  thwacks.  When  the  enraged 
Shagpatians  had  be^owed  on  him  a 
very  "storm  of  thwacks"  they  took  him 
"as  he  had  been  a  stray  bundle  or  a 
damaged  bale,  and  hurled  him  from  the 
city    into    the    wilderness    once    more." 

The  youth  has  tried  to  take  out  an 
insurance  policy  against  thwacks,  and 
failed.  Then  he  has  tried  to  convince 
himself  that  there  will  be  no  thwacks 
and  discovered  his  error.  What  next? 
For  the  present  there  is  nothing  next. 
He  is  benumbed,  imprisoned  within 
himself,  has  no  outlooks,  hopes  or 
prospedts,  looks  "neither  to  the  right, 
nor  to  the  left  nor  above."  His  brain 
also  has  lost  activity;  the  monotony  of 
one  thought  is  in  it.  "O  old  woman, 
O  accursed  old  woman"  is  his  dreary 
repetition.  What  help  for  the  sorely 
bethwacked  one  .^  Why,  the  healings  of 
time.  'Tis  a  youth  of  naturally  lively 
wits  and  sparkling  hopes.  A  little  time 
and  he  will  be  looking  with  eyes  keen 
as  ever  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  and 
above.  But  will  he  ever  again  look  at 
Shagpat  ? 

48 


DECISION. 


MEREDITH  is  an  enthusiast  in 
the  matter  of  thwacks,  so  much 
so  that  in  praise  of  them  he 
forgets  to  be  allegorical,  speaks  openly, 
in  language  to  be  underwood  of  all. 
With  infinite  heartiness,  with  the  reit- 
eration of  one  who  revels  in  his  task,  he 
sings,  shouts,  preaches  the  hero-making 
virtues  that  lie  in  "celestial  hail  of 
thwacks."  The  mightiest  of  tonics  is  this 
tonic  of  thwacks,  sure  specific  for  hard- 
ening into  manhood  such  as  have  in 
them  the  makings  of  men.  Hence  't  is 
compulsory  that  all  candidates  for  great- 
ness submit  to  a  Preliminary  Examina- 
tion of  Thwacks.  That  the  majority  fail, 
relapse  whiningly  to  their  native  ob- 
scurity is  all  for  good;  the  chosen  few, 
the  men  of  grit  remain,  and  to  them, 
for  their  further  improvement,  the 
world  continues  generous  in  thwacks. 
Thwacked  into  greatness, "made  perfect 

49 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

through  suffering"— it  is,  in  a  phrase, 
the  history  of  consummate  men.  A 
barbarous  method  for  the  making  of 
heroes,  but  what  will  you  have  ?  Must 
not  the  sculptor  chisel  the  marble  to 
fashion  the  man  ?  Well  for  us  that  the 
Supreme  Sculptor,  the  "Divinity  that 
shapes  our  ends"  is  no  sentimentali^. 
Whatever  other  effect  Shibli  Baga- 
rag's  thwacks  may  have  on  him,  'tis 
certain  they  have  already,  and  at  a  leap, 
greatly  advanced  his  education.  He 
sees  deeper  into  the  real  nature  of 
Shagpat,  know^s  him  now  to  be  no  un- 
willing martyr  to  hairiness,  but  one 
wearing  hairiness  unabashed,  flaunting 
it  in  the  light  of  day.  Shagpat  is  cor- 
rupt at  the  core;  ending  not  mending 
ought  to  be  his  doom.  If  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  tackles  him  again,  he  will  bear  that 
in  mind.  But  now  that  he  sees  what 
a  thwack-bringing  monger  this  Shag- 
pat is,  will  he  have  courage  to  tackle 
him  again?  Ah,  it  is  just  with  this 
question,  for  him  become  most  import- 
ant of  questions,  that  the  youth  is  at 
wre^le  in  the  wilderness.  Present  with 
him  in  the  wilderness  is  Noorna, 
clothed  in  her  ugliness;    and  since  this 

50 


DECISION 

is  his  temptation  hour,  another  also, 
not  mentioned  in  the  Allegory,  is  with 
him.  Noorna's  words  are:— "I  propose 
to  thee  this,  and  'tis  an  excellent  pro- 
position, that  I  lead  thee  to  great 
things,  and  make  thee  glorious,  a  sitter 
in  high  seats,  Master  of  an  Event  — 
provided  thou  marry  me  in  sweet  mar- 
riage." The  other,  unnamed  one's 
words  are:— "You  can  't  propose  to  keep 
further  company  with  that  terror.  Twice 
already,  though  you  merely  coquetted 
with  her,  has  she  brought  the  lash  upon 
your  back;  judge  then  what  a  life  she 
would  lead  you  were  you  so  mad  as 
betroth  her.  Even  could  she  bring  you 
to  greatness,  which  is  que^ionable, 
what  would  greatness  be,  purchased  at 
such  a  price  ?  In  mercy  to  yourself  bid 
the  thwack-bringing  ugliness  begone." 
Vex  not  Shibli  Bagarag  now  with  gabb- 
lings  of  advice;  'tis  his  supreme  hour, 
his  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  and 
in  silence  only  can  he  gather  to  himself 
his  ^rength.  But  pray,  if  you  will,  he 
may  know  that  as  matters  stand  be- 
tween him  and  Noma,  his  soul  is 
already  compromised.  Noorna  has 
wooed    him     too     mightily    to     accept 

51 


THE  WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

rebuff  tamely.  If  leave  him  she  must 
now,  it  will  not  be  before  she  has  thru^ 
her  claw-fingers  into  his  heart,  rifling 
it  of  treasure.  Pray  that  Shibli  Bagarag 
may    know   that. 

Decisions  which  endure  into  the 
future  have  their  roots  in  the  past.  Not 
that  they  come  by  preordainment,  de- 
terminism —  for  surely  they  are  sparks 
from  those  unquenchable  fires  of  free- 
dom which  bum  in  the  spirit  of  man. 
But  as  for  the  wood  and  coals  which 
the  sparks  set  on  flame  —  these  if  the 
flame  is  to  endure  and  prevail,  mu^  be 
the  gatherings  of  a  lifetime.  Well 
therefore  for  the  strength  of  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  decision  that  his  whole  past 
enters  into  it  — those  creative  predic- 
tions of  the  "readers  of  planets,"  those 
^arvations,  buffetings,  hardships  en- 
dured in  many  lands.  He  is  a  man 
prepared  and  disciplined  of  destiny 
unto  this  very  hour;  hence  his  decision 
when  he  comes  by  it,  is  given  quietly,, 
almost  as  mere  matter  of  course.  "  'Tis 
a  pact  between  us,  O  old  woman"  quoth 
Shibli  Bagarag  to  Nooma.  The  occa- 
sion is  great  enough  to  justify  a  vow, 
but  Shibli  Bagarag  is  great  enough  not 

52 


DECISION 

to  make  one.  'Tis  the  weak  in  will 
who  are  mighty  in  vows;  their  delusion 
being  that  vows  can  fortify  the  will, 
turn  its  weakness  into  strength.  When 
man  wills  effedlively  his  yea  is  simply 
yea,  his  nay  nay.  Doubt  not  now  in 
any  case  Shibli  Bagarag's  earnestness. 
He  who  clings  to  a  cause  for  which  he 
has  suffered,  clings  to  it  in  no  dilettante 
spirit.  He  is  identified  with  it.  cemented 
to  it  by  his  own  blood  — for  such  pur- 
poses the  best  of  cements.  Shibli 
Bagarag  is  no  dilettante,  but  a  man 
terribly,  dangerously  in  earned.  Not 
as  keeping  his  cowardly  courage  up  by 
assuring  himself  that  he  will  emerge 
unscathed  from  the  fight;  but  as  ex- 
pecting thwacks,  prepared  to  endure 
them,  does  he  this  time  don  his  armour. 
Real  courage  —  hard,  set,  open-eyed  — 
has  come  to  him  at  last.  Quietly 
therefore,  yet  passionately,  and  in  true 
sacramental  spirit,  he  devotes  himself 
to  the  task  of  shaving  Shagpat,  takes 
it  to  him  for  better  or  worse,  even 
as  a  man  takes  to  himself  a  bride. 
This  great,  passionate,  life-filling  choice 
it  is  which  is  romantically  yet  ac- 
curately   represented    in    the    Allegory 

53 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

by  Shibli  Bagarag's  betrothal  to  Noorna. 
When  man  makes  a  good  resolution 
he    is   apt   to    judge   it   an   achievement 
in  itself^  earning  him  right  to  breathing 
time  and   self-gratulation.       From    that 
spring  many  dangers;  a  chief  one  being 
that   to    secure    this    breathing   time    he 
antedates   his   good   resolution,   fixes   it 
to  come  into  operation  to-morrow.  But 
while    to-morrow    may    take    over    the 
good    work,    it   merely    passes    on    the 
good  resolutions   of  to-day   to   another 
to-morrow;      so     that    man    thus    walks 
through    life    a    day    behind    his    own 
purposes,  never  catching  up   on   them. 
To-morrow   is   the   battle-cry    of   fools: 
let  Shibli  Bagarag,  in  this  his  hour  of 
good  resolution,  see  that  it  is  not  his 
battle-cry.     Let  him  ha^en   to   confirm 
his  resolution  by  rushing  into  action  — 
to  render  his  betrothal  valid  by  bestow- 
ing  on   Noorna  the   "kiss   of  contradt." 
Any  first  effort  to   give  practical   effect 
to  an  unpleasant  resolution  is  this  "kiss 
of  contract."  Though  in  the  wilderness, 
if   that    be    taken    literally,   and    out    of 
touch    with    Shagpat,    there    are    many 
ways   by   which   he   can   begin   to   give 
practical     effect    to     his    resolution    to 

54 


DECISION 

accomplish  the  shave.  He  can,  for  one 
thing,  begin  to  set  himself  in  order  — 
to  sacrifice,  thrust  from  him  such  other 
ambitions  and  loves  as  are  in  his  heart, 
and  so  make  queenly  room  for  Noorna. 
Whatever  form  the  "kiss  of  contract" 
may  have  taken  —  and  it  is  unnecessary 
to  be  precise  in  the  matter  —  it  was  no 
relishable  love-kiss,  merely  a  ^ernly 
hearty  duty-kiss.  But  such  as  it  was,, 
behold  the  effect  on  Noorna.  "It  was 
as  though  she  had  been  illuminated,  as 
when  a  light  is  put  into  the  hollow  of 
a  pumpkin."  Every  change  in  Noorna 
symbolises,  as  has  been  seen,  a  change 
in  Shibli  Bagarag  himself.  The  change 
here  symbolised  is  that  which  invar- 
iably comes  from  brave  discharge  of 
unpleasant  duty.  The  unpleasantness 
in  part  disappears;  rather  not  at  once 
disappears,  but  —  Meredith's  symbolism 
being  entirely  accurate  —  is  lit  up  w^ith 
wondrous  promise  of  disappearance. 
It  is  the  crosses  man  refuses  to  carry 
which  weigh  mo^  heavily  on  him.  He 
cannot  long  hate  the  duty  he  honestly 
tries  to  do;  there  is  hidden  divinity  in 
duty  to  render  that  impossible.  Shibli 
Bagarag    is    already     in    the    way     of 

55 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

making  this  glad  discovery,  and  it 
comes  to  him  as  reward  for  running  in 
advance  of  himself,  nobly  violating  his 
feelings  by  kissing  Noorna  before  he 
loves  her.  It  is  continually  necessary 
that  a  man  should  in  this  sense  be  false 
to  his  feelings  if  he  would  be  true  to 
himself.  In  temporary  divorce  between 
action  and  feeling  —  action  running 
nobly,  aspiringly  in  advance— lies  man's 
possibility  of  progress.  Shibli  Bagarag 
is  indeed  in  the  way  of  making  glad 
discoveries.  He  has  kissed  the  cross, 
and  already  there  shines  through  it  the 
lustre  of  the  crown.  He  has  taken  upon 
himself  an  unpleasant  duty,  and  already 
his  is  the  promise  of  glory  and  of  joy. 
The  temptation  in  the  wilderness  is 
over,  and  the  youth  — now  worthy  to 
be  called  the  reformer  —  comes  forth 
victorious.  Count  it  not  against  him 
that  for  the  present  there  is  little  saint- 
ship  in  his  vicflory.  If  a  man  delays 
doing  good  till  his  motives  are  alto- 
gether good,  his  delay  will  be  eternal. 
God  does  not  despise  the  sacrifice  of 
mixed  motives,  provided  there  is  some 
element  of  good  in  the  mixture.  Shibli 
Bagarag  is  driven  to  shave  Shagpat  by 

56 


DECISION 

revenge,  ambition,  any  worldly  motive 
you  like;  but  he  is  also  driven  to  it  by 
the  sense  of  duty.  Let  him  keep  that 
sense  of  duty,  and  all  will  come  well. 
Duty  is  of  the  nature  that  it  cannot 
abide  to  be  one  among  a  democracy 
of  motives.  It  is  the  young  cuckoo  in 
the  ne^  of  the  heart;  no  rest  can  it 
take  till  it  expels  the  other  nestlings. 
Shibli  Bagarag  is  inspired  by  many 
motives  now;  let  him  keep  the  motive 
of  duty,  and  in  time  he  will  be  inspired 
by   it  alone. 

Meantime  he  comes  forth  from  his 
temptation  that  rare^,  terriblest  of  be- 
ings —  an  entirely  resolute  man,  single- 
pointed  of  purpose,  prepared  to  wait,  to 
work,  to  suffer.  The  supreme  secret  of 
success  is  his,  revealed  to  him  in  that 
lonely  wrestle  in  the  wilderness.  It  is 
in  solitude,  under  the  private  tuition  of 
God  that  life's  best  lessons  are  learned. 
Even  the  art  of  ma^erful  publicity 
comes  by  the  schoolings  of  solitude. 
Take  account  then  of  him  who  comes 
from  the  wilderness  into  the  city;  the 
power  of  God  may  be  upon  him  to 
shake  the  city.  It  is  as  a  friendless, 
resourceless  youth   Shibli   Bagarag  re- 

57 


THE   WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

turns  to  the  city  of  Shagpat;  but  what 
of  that?  He  brings  with  him  a  magical 
magnet,  found  by  him  in  the  wilderness 
and  named  the  magnet  of  earne^ness: 
doubt  not  that  friends  and  resources 
w^ill  soon  be  his.  Already  one  man, 
attracfted  by  the  magnet,  is  seeking 
friendship.  It  is  Vizier  Feshnavat.  The 
crafty  Vizier  while  outwardly  the  most 
zealous,  barber-thwacking  of  Shagpat- 
ians,  is  Shagpat's  secret  enemy.  His 
heart's  desire  is  to  have  that  miracle  of 
hairiness  abased,  shaved  even  to  the 
Identical.  But  to  set  bravely  about  the 
shave  himself  is  beyond  Feshnavat.  At 
best  he  is  merely  a  go-between,  unfit 
to  betroth  Noorna  but  doing  his  best 
to  seek  out,  urge  some  other  man  to 
betroth  her.  He  has  taken  note  of 
Shibli  Bagarag  as  he  stood  before  the 
King,  has  heard  of  his  subsequent 
daring  interview  with  Shagpat;  and  by 
these  tokens  knows  that  this  is  the  man 
of  men  for  his  purpose.  It  is  fated  that 
the  Vizier  and  the  Barber  shall  meet,  for 
"Chance  is  a  poor  knave; 

Its  own  sad  slave; 

Two  meet  that  were  to  meet: 

Life  's  no  cheat." 
58 


DECISION 

Despise  not  Feshnavat,  the  go-be- 
tween; rather  imitate  him.  If  you 
cannot  yourself  betroth  Noorna,  help 
her  to  betrothal;  the  duties  you  thus 
do  by  proxy  are  well  pleasing  unto 
God.  Borrowing  is  the  supreme  royal 
art;  all  rulers  of  men  are  great  bor- 
rowers. If  you  lack  ^rength  to  accom- 
plish your  desire,  borrow  another  man's 
strength,  even  as  Feshnavat  borrowed 
the  strength  of  Shibli  Bagarag.  The 
next  best  thing  to  possessing  great 
qualities  yourself  is  to  be  able  to  detedt 
and  utilise  the  great  qualities  of  others. 

In  other  respects  Feshnavat  is  not 
a  man  to  be  admired.  He  is  a  trader 
in  treacheries,  holds  his  viziership  in 
virtue  of  treachery;  cannot,  it  would 
seem,  do  even  honest  work  otherwise 
than  in  a  roguish  manner.  Ought 
Shibli  Bagarag  to  accept  alliance  with 
such  a  man?  Not  to  speak  of  the  risk 
of  it,  would  it  be  right  ?  Why,  if  Shibli 
Bagarag  is  going  to  shy  at  risks,  dabble 
in  casuistical  scruples,  Noorna  has 
made  a  poor  bargain  in  her  betrothal. 
In  loyalty  to  her  he  is  bound  to  accept 
Feshnavat's  alliance;  not  to  be  sure 
handing  himself  unreservedly   over   to 

59 


THE   WOOINGS    OF   NOORNA 

be  a  cat's  paw  in  the  hands  of  that  wily 
one,  but  retaining  watchful  independ- 
ence even  in  alliance.  This  is  what 
happens.  By  written  agreement,  prop- 
erly atte^ed,  Shibli  Bagarag  binds 
himself  anew  to  the  great  task,  gives 
Feshnavat  pledges  of  loyalty.  That  is 
what  is  meant  by  the  ceremony  of 
betrothal,  carried  out  with  all  due 
formalities,  in  the  palace  of  the 
Vizier. 

The  second  kiss,  given  by  Shibli 
Bagarag  at  this  ceremony,  need  be 
noticed  only  for  its  effedl  on  Noorna. 
*'New  light  seemed  in  her:  and  it  was 
as  if  a  iSplendid  jewel  was  struggling 
to  cast  its  beams  through  the  sides  of 
a  crystal  vase  smeared  with  dust,  and 
old  dirt,  and  the  spinnings  of  the 
damp  spider."  What  a  little  thing 
enables  the  gods  to  work  miracles! 
Shibli  Bagarag  solemnly  binds  himself 
to  be  loyal  to  his  ugly  Noorna,  and 
behold  from  the  core  of  her  ugliness 
there  already  come  rewarding  radiances., 
breakings  out  of  bliss,  flashings  and 
promisings  of  a  beauty  that  is  to  be. 
Every  ugly  duty  can  be  kissed  into 
beauty.     Repellent  Noomas  are  of  the 

60 


DECISION 

blood-royal  of  Heaven:   Heaven  awaits 
those  who  betroth  them. 

The  moral  effect  of  this  alliance  on 
Shibli  Bagarag  is  cunningly  symbolised 
in  the  Allegory.  We  can  seldom  be 
altogether  sure  of  our  beliefs  until  we 
see  them  shared  in  by  others.  Thought 
may  take  origin  in  solitude  but  it  gains 
^rength,  self-assurance  only  in  society. 
We  need  to  make  converts  before  we 
quite  realise  our  own  conversion.  It 
means  much  therefore  to  Shibli  Baga- 
rag that,  at  this  stage,  his  idea  of 
shaving  Shagpat  should  be  shared  in 
by  anyone.  The  fact  that  it  is  shared 
in,  has  indeed  been  first  thought  of  by 
so  great  a  man  as  the  Vizier  — is  not 
Noorna  his  daughter  ,^  —  gives  the  idea 
added  dignity,  importance  —  social  stat- 
us, say  —  in  the  eyes  of  the  youth.  This 
change  in  the  attitude  of  Shibli  Bag- 
arag toward  the  shaving  of  Shagpat  is 
expressed,  here  as  always,  by  a  corre- 
sponding change  in  Noorna;  this  time, 
and  note  the  appropriateness  of  it,  by 
a  change,  a  queenly  magnificence  of 
raiment.  Suitable  as  romance  and  sig- 
nificant as  allegory  is  it  that  Noorna 
should    appear    for    betrothal    "sump- 

6i 


THE  WOOINGS   OF   NOORNA 

tuously  arrayed,  in  perfedt  queenliness, 
her  head  bound  in  a  circlet  of  gems  and 
gold,  her  figure  lustrous  with  a  full 
robe  of  flowing  crimson  silk.  ,  .  .  " 
The  reference  here,  be  it  said,  is  to  a 
class  of  allegorical  minutiae  which  will 
not  in  this  exposition  receive  much 
attention.  The  ^udent  ought  however 
to  be  on  the  outlook  for  them  himself. 
They  abound  everywhere,  and  in  them 
much  of  the  convincingness  and  beauty 
of  the   Allegory  resides. 

Nooma,  member  of  the  Royal  Family 
of  the  Duties,  ugliest  marriageable 
member  of  the  Family,  has  been  woo- 
ing among  the  sons  of  men,  seeking 
some  best  and  bravest  youth  to  be  her 
betrothed.  She  has  succeeded,  and 
surely  there  is  joy  in  Heaven  over  her 
success.  Shibli  Bagarag,  youth  pre- 
pared and  disciplined  of  destiny,  has 
accepted  the  terrible  honour  of  her 
betrothal,  let  himself  forsooth  be 
thwacked  into  it.  But  what  then.^ 
Others  let  themselves  be  thwacked 
out  of  it;  count  it  wholly  to  his  honour 
that  he  has  let  himself  be  thwacked 
into  it.  They  are  betrothed  indeed  who 
are   wooed   into   betrothal   by   thwacks, 

62 


DECISION 

and  Noorna  may  count  on  their  loyalty. 
Verily  Shibli  Bagarag  promises  to  take 
high  rank  among  the  aristocracy  of 
servants,  which  is  the  ancient  aristo- 
cracy of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


63 


THE    QUEST    OF   THE   SPELLS 


INSIGHT. 


NO  use  measuring  the  oil  in  the 
Widow's  cruse  unless  you  can 
also  measure  the  oil  that  may 
come  into  it.  It  is  a  miraculous  cruse, 
in  touch  with,  tapping  all  the  resources 
of  oil  there  are.  The  measure  of  the 
widow's  need  of  and  receptacles  to  store 
the  oil  —  that  is  the  measure  of  the  oil. 
So  with  man's  powers.  They  are  deter- 
mined by  his  needs  and  receptivities, 
in  other  respects  quite  indeterminate. 
By  that  explain  Noorna's  magic.  She 
constitutes  for  Shibli  Bagarag  a  great 
need  and  stirs  him  to  a  large  recep- 
tivity. She  is  his  ambition  —  now  that 
she  is  betrothed  that  is  her  lawful  name 
—  and  all  the  genuine  magic,  the  natural 
magic  of  human  achievement  comes 
through  those  qualities  of  earnestness 
and  faith  which  are  the  con^ituents  of 
right  ambition.  Earnestness  multiplies 
a  man,  makes  him  a  tenfold,  hundred- 

67 


THE    QUEST    OF   THE   SPELLS 

fold  man:  faith  puts  him  in  condition 
to  tap  the  resources  of  the  Infinite.  The 
case  then  with  Shibli  Bagarag  simply 
is  that  being  fired  and  elevated  by  am- 
bition^ he  develops  in  himself  the 
amazing  resources  which  are  attributed 
to  the  magic  of  Nooma.  Great  tasks 
draw  forth  great  powers,  and  the  help 
which  Noorna  gives  the  youth  is  simply 
that  the  youth  himself  is  made  larger 
and  wiser  by  the  facft  that  he  has  now 
a  definite  and  commanding  aim  in  life. 
Not  till  a  man  gets  such  an  aim  does  he 
get  grip  of  his  own  greatness.  The  "I" 
which  is  "yet  not  I"  puts  divine  magic, 
treasures  of  insight  and  strength,  at  the 
"service  of  men  who  live  ^renuously. 
Every  rightly  ambitious  man  is  greater 
than  he  knows.  He  has  his  spirit-bride, 
Noorna  bin  Noorka,  the  "sorceress  en- 
sorcelled"   by   whom   wonders   come. 

All  right  success  is  heralded  by,  made 
possible  through  failure.  Fools  may 
fail  and  get  no  benefit  by  failure,  but 
Shibli  Bagarag  has  stored  the  treas- 
ures of  failure  in  his  heart.  He  knows 
now  that  with  his  present  tackle  —  ac- 
complishments—he can  never  hope  to 
shave    Shagpat,    that    only    one    sword, 

68 


INSIGHT 

the  sword  of  Aklis  is  equal  to  that. 
With  aspiring  humility  and  cautious 
daring  he  sets  out  in  quest  of  those 
spells  which  are  the  price  of  this  sword. 
He  has  need  of  his  caution.  By  his 
tentative  efforts  at  a  shave  he  has 
brought  notice  on  himself,  put  the 
Shagpatians  on  their  guard.  His  weak- 
ness so  far  has  proved  his  security,  but 
if  caught  meddling  with  Shagpat  again, 
something  more  than  contemptuous 
thwacks  may  be  his  portion.  Shibli 
Bagarag  does  well  therefore  to  make 
the  first  move  in  his  campaign  the  turn- 
ing of  Karaz  into  an  "enchanted  ass." 
Karaz  is  the  chief  champion,  the  effec- 
tive defender  of  Shagpat.  If  given  his 
w^ide^  signification  he  may  be  called 
the  Antagonist,  the  Evil  Principle, 
world-w^ide  originator  and  supporter 
of  abuses.  But  the  Allegory  merely 
demands  that  we  view  him  as  the 
defender  of  the  Shagpatian  abuse,  at- 
taching to  him  as  such  the  wide^,  free^ 
of  meanings.  To  turn  Karaz  into  an 
enchanted  ass,  type  of  all  stupidity, 
what  is  it  but  to  befool  the  enemy, 
put  him  off  his  guard?  "Whom  the 
gods  wish  to  ruin  they  first  make  mad" 

69 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE;   SPELLS 

or  stupid,  an  uninteresting  but  equally 
effecflive  form  of  madness.  No  strength 
can  compensate  for  stupidity;  the  more 
you  arm  a  stupid  man  the  more  you 
hasten  his  downfall.  Simple  is  the 
necromancy  which  Shibli  Bagarag  prac- 
tises on  Karaz.  A  victory  easily  gained 
is  apt  of  itself  to  make  an  enchanted  ass 
of  the  victor.  All  Shibli  Bagarag  has 
to  do  is  to  lie  low,  let  it  be  believed 
that  he  is  done  for,  thwacked  into  cow- 
ardly quiescence,  and  the  vainglorious 
Shagpat  affects  to  take  his  triumph 
sleepily.  Pity  'tis  that  hairiness  should 
breed  barbers,  but  Allah  for  the  un- 
settlement  of  men  hath  decreed  it  so. 
The  meddlesome  rogues,  the  crack- 
brained  disturbers  of  things,  'tis  certain 
they  can  't  see  a  hair  without  itching  to 
shave  it.  But  Shagpat  has  thwacks  for 
them,  wallahy !  he  will  thwack  them  one 
and  all  until  they  howl.  Meantime  a 
good  day's  work  has  been  done.  Shibli 
Bagarag,  barber,  has  got  his  quietus, 
been  thwacked  to  such  purpose  that 
he  '11  never  want  to  handle  razor  more. 
Is  it  not  a  good  day's  work?  Shagpat 
by  your  leave  will  go  to  sleep.  That  be- 
like was  how  the  enchantment  worked, 

70 


INSIGHT 

though  those  who  care  to  study 
Noorna's  necromantic  mummery  w^ill 
be  rewarded  by  glimpses  of  further 
meaning. 

But  an  ass  is  a  serviceable  creature; 
't  were  pity  if  Karaz  were  to  be  let 
spend  his  brief  asinine  days  unprofit- 
ably.  You  do  wrong  if  you  do  n't  turn 
your  enemy's  folly  against  himself.  His 
Cupidity  is  your  legitimate  weapon. 
Make  it  minister  to  his  defeat,  perhaps 
so  you  may  teach  him  certain  lessons 
which  will  go  far  to  compensate  him 
for  defeat.  Shibli  Bagarag  has  need  of 
Karaz  at  any  rate.  None  but  Karaz  can 
help  him  toward  certain  of  those  spells 
which  are  the  price  of  the  Sword. 
While  the  enchantment  holds  then  let 
him  mount  and  away. 

These  are  the  Spells  which  Shibli 
Bagarag   acquired : 

The  first  was  a  phial  of  water  from 
the  Well  of  Paravid.  Virtue  was  in 
that  water  to  make  inanimate  things 
vocal,  to  cause  all  creatures  to  speak 
truly  the  thing  that  was  in  them.  What 
can  this  be  but  insight,  "the  seeing  eye 
and  the  understanding  heart".-*  The 
power  to  get  at  facts,  to   see  through 

71 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

men  and  matters,  ranks  first  among  the 
Spells.  Better  insight  and  nothing  else, 
than  all  other  things  without  insight. 
A  blind  Samson,  even  when  benevolent,, 
is  ever  a  danger.  Though  he  may  mean 
to  hold  up  the  house  there  is  risk  that 
he  will  pull  it  down.  The  man  of 
action,  who  is  merely  a  thinker  writing 
his  thoughts  not  in  books  but  in  deeds, 
requires  above  all  things  the  Water  of 
Paravid.  Napoleon,  the  world's  great- 
est man  of  action,  had  it,  carried  it 
with  him  into  his  battlefields;  by  it 
he  made  the  hills  and  woods  to  speak, 
in^ructing  him  to  conquer.  Be  it  un- 
derstood that  this  Water  of  Paravid 
signifies  not  so  much  the  power  to 
collecft  as  the  power  to  estimate  facts. 
A  man  may  be  an  industrious  collector 
of  facts,  and  yet  fail  to  master  their 
significance.  The  virtue  of  the  W^ater 
is  that  it  makes  facts  speak,  reveal  their 
true  value  and  significance.  It  is  this 
which    constitutes   it   a   mighty   spell. 

This  spell  never  comes  unpurchased, 
by  pure  grace  of  nature.  To  get  it  one 
mu^  cross  a  weary  desert,  which  is 
the  desert  of  study.  Well  surely  is  it 
called    a    desert,    for    though    truth    is 

72 


INSIGHT 

refreshing  as  water,  the  search  for  it 
brings  much  weariness,  thirstiness  of 
doubt.  A  paradox  and  yet  a  ^atement 
of  law  it  is  that  you  must  go  to  the 
desert  in  search  of  the  waters^  that 
every  "land  flowing  with  milk  and 
honey"  is  reached  by  way  of  the  wil- 
derness. But  note  in  regard  to  Shibli 
Bagarag  that  't  was  on  the  back  of 
Karaz  he  passed  the  desert,  and  that  he 
lingered  not  but  scurried  through  it 
with  all  possible  dispatch.  Therein  he 
is  an  example.  Venture  not  into  that 
doleful  desert  on  foot,  nor  even  on 
some  slow-ambling  philosophic  nag, 
else  will  you  leave  your  bones  to 
bleach  there.  Go  with  some  definite 
objecft,  mounted  on  some  Karaz,  and 
see  that  Karaz  lingers  not  by  the  way. 
It  was  not  as  a  searcher  after  truth 
in  general  that  Shibli  Bagarag  sought 
the  well.  The  truth  in  regard  to  Shag- 
pat  was  what  he  was  after.  His  object 
was  to  get  at  the  facts  of  the  case,  to 
master  the  problem  of  Shagpatism. 
Hence  Karaz,  as  champion  of  the  Shag- 
patian  delusion,  could  alone  carry  him 
to  the  well.  Whether  in  the  form  of 
enchanted   ass   or   fire-breathing   genie, 

73 


THE   QUEST    OF   THE,  SPELLS 

there  was  no  help  for  it  but  Shibli 
Bagarag  mu^  mount  Karaz.  It  is  only 
from  the  facts  you  can  learn  the  facts, 
and  close  personal  touch  with  them  is 
necessary.  If  the  back  of  Karaz  is  too 
dangerous  or  too  filthy  for  your 
mount,  let  that  be  the  end.  There  is 
no  going  to  the  well  by  proxy,  giving 
commission  to  another  to  mount  and 
bring  you  the  water.  Nor  is  it  per- 
mitted you  before  you  mount  Karaz 
to  put  great  coverings  on  his  back  to 
keep  you  from  touch  of  his  repulsive- 
ness.  If  you  are  fa^idious  with  respect 
to  filth  you  will  never  do  much  to 
cleanse    the    world. 

As  a  rule  it  is  not  difficult  to  keep 
Karaz  in  the  form  of  an  enchanted  ass 
while  he  carries  you  to  the  well.  Even 
though  he  perceives  you  are  in  search 
of  truth,  yet  will  the  enchantment 
generally  hold.  For  the  world's  great 
lies  seldom  quite  know  themselves  to 
be  lies.  The  fact  that  they  have  place 
among  the  things  that  are,  that  they 
are  rooted  in  the  established  order  of 
society,  gives  them  a  blinding  sense  of 
reality,  security.  Shagpat  does  not  see 
why  he   need  fear   inve^igation.       Let 

74 


INSIGHT 

Shibli  Bagarag  by  all  means  investigate, 
if  such  be  his  humour.  What  harm 
can  the  inquisitive  youth  do  Shagpat? 
Shagpat  will  yet  know  better.  The  only 
thing  fatal  to  a  lie  is  truth.  It  cannot 
be  crushed  by  persecution  —  Satan  be- 
ing able  to  flourish  under  martyrdom 
as  well  as  his  betters  — but  at  touch  of 
the  water  of  truth  it  shrivels  up  into 
primitive  nothingness.  But  darkness  is 
arrogant  in  blunders.  The  thing  to  be 
reformed  always,  though  unwittingly, 
helps  the  reformer  to  the  truth  by 
which  he  reforms  it.  Papacy  actively 
helped  Luther  to  his  insight  into  the 
errors  of  Papacy.  Like  an  enchanted 
ass,  type  of  all  stupidity,  Rome  sent  her 
creatures  to  hawk  indulgences  through 
Germany,  thereby  compelling  Luther  to 
open  his  eyes,  carrying  him  at  break- 
neck speed  to  the  water  of  Paravid.  It 
is  always  so  in  life.  Men  see  the  right 
by  the  assistance  of  the  wrong.  They 
are  carried  to  truth  on  the  back  of  false- 
hood. Error  plays  the  ass  and  helps 
the  reformer. 

The  description  of  the  Well  is  finely 
significant,  and  entirely  catholic  in 
every     detail.       Round     it     sat     idlers, 

75 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE   SPELLS 

bubble-blowers,  players  with  the  waters. 
These  are  dilettante  students,  strenuous 
triflers,    industrious    dabblers    in    intell- 
ectual   pursuits;     and     of    them     great 
portion    of    educated    society    is    com- 
posed.     They   play   with   truth   for   the 
refined  amusement  it  affords  them,  but 
never  plunge  boldly  into   the  Well,  to 
emerge   therefrom  with   bleeding  hand, 
carrying   treasure.     Truth   in   its   saving 
power  is  not  for  those  who  seek  it  out 
of  curiosity.     Aimless  livers  cannot  be 
clear  thinkers.     The  waters   of  Paravid 
are  for  those  only  who  have  betrothed 
their  Noorna.     It  is  not  a  little  know- 
ledge that  is  a  dangerous  thing.     It  is 
when  men  play  with  knowledge,  acquire 
and  hold  it  without  moral  earnestness, 
that  there  is  danger;    and  then  indeed 
the   greater  the   knowledge   the   greater 
the     danger.      The    intellectual    without 
the   spiritual,  knowledge   without   earn- 
estness  is   a  peril   to   the   soul.     Either 
do  n't  meddle  with  truth  at  all,  or  else 
plunge  boldly  into  the  well. 

A  miracle  and  no  less  is  this  Well 
of  Paravid.  "The  sky  is  clear  in  it, 
cool  in  it,  and  the  whole  earth  imaged 
therein."       So    suggestive,    so    grandly 

76 


INSIGHT 

free  is  the  symbolism,  it  would  be  sin 
to  cramp  it  into  definite  meaning.  But 
take  it,  if  you  like,  to  represent  the 
heart  of  man  —  that  implies  no  cramp- 
ing. Were  the  water  of  the  heart  un- 
fouled  by  vice,  unruffled  by  passion, 
the  things  of  heaven  and  earth  would 
be  reflected  therein.  Nothing  images 
all  things  but  man  who  is  himself  all 
things. 

The  Well  seemed  "of  the  very  depth 
of  the  earth  itself,"  yet  Shibli  Bagarag's 
report  of  it  was:  "No  sooner  had  I 
touched  the  bottom  of  the  Well  than 
my  head  emerged  from  the  surface." 
Is  it  not  always  so  in  the  quest  after 
truth  ?  You  may  dive  deep,  lose  your- 
self for  a  time  in  the  waters  of  doubt 
and  difficulty,  yet  the  moment  you 
solve  the  problem  — get  to  the  bottom 
of  the  W^ell  —  all  is  clear^  you  are  in 
daylight  immediately.  Simplicity  is  the 
hall-mark  of  truth.  The  proof  that  you 
really  understand  a  thing  is  that  you 
detect  its  simplicity.  The  proof  that 
you  have  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
Well  is  that  you  behold  the   daylight. 

Shibli  Bagarag  has  secured  a  phial 
of  the  water  of  Paravid.     Though   the 

77 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

phial  is  labelled  "Shagpatism,"  let  it  not 
be  thought  that  its  virtues  are  limited 
to  giving  him  knowledge  of  and  in- 
sight into  that  special  problem.  The 
special  is  the  way  out  to  the  universal. 
By  mastering  one  subject,  especially 
such  a  great  social  subject  as  Shag- 
patism, Shibli  Bagarag  has  developed 
himself  generally,  w^idened  his  mental 
outlook,  become  more  capable  of  grap- 
pling w^ith,  piercing  into  the  truth  of 
all  things.  The  phial  would  be  service- 
able to  him  for  any  purpose,  but  none 
the  less  it  is  binding  on  him  to  devote 
it  specially  to  one.  It  is  not  for  him 
to  wander  excursively  over  the  fields 
of  life,  dabbling  in  many  interests.  As 
betrothed  his  liberty  is  curtailed.  Under 
the  auspices  of  Noorna  the  phial  has 
been  secured;  in  the  services  of  Noorna 
it  must  be  spent. 


78 


ENTHUSIASM. 


THE  next  spell  to  be  acquired  was 
three  hairs  from  the  tail  of  the 
horse  Garraveen.  It  was  the 
horse  "heroes  of  bliss  bestride  on 
great  days."  "Speed  quivered  on  his 
flanks  like  lightning."  To  mount  him 
was  to  feel  oneself  on  a  "bounding 
wave  of  bliss."  Manifestly  this  glor- 
ious creature  symbolises  enthusiasm. 
Its  fire  and  freedom,  "dark  flushes 
of  ireful  vigour,"  finely  suggest  the 
inspired  ease,  the  fierce  delight  of  an 
enthusiast  in  his  work.  Enthusiasm, 
equally  with  insight,  is  necessary  for 
high  achievement.  It  is  the  God-intoxi- 
cation of  the  soul,  the  mood  and  the 
moment  of  genius;  great  things  are 
done  in  it.  Enthusiasm  without  know- 
ledge makes  a  man  a  firebrand,  dan- 
gerous to  the  state;  knowledge  without 
enthusiasm  makes  him  not  indeed 
negligible  —  the     man     who     knows     is 

79 


THE   QUEST   OF   THE   SPELLS 

never  negligible —  but   one   who   in   his 
own  person   can   accomplish   but   little. 

The  horse  was  made  to  come  by 
Shibli  Bagarag  blowing  the  Call  of 
Battle;  it  was  caught  by  being  struck 
on  the  fetlock  by  a  Musk-ball;  it  was 
tamed  by  having  the  figure  of  the 
Crescent  traced  between  its  eyes.  These 
three  actions  represent  three  forms  of 
enthusiasm  —  the  three  hairs  which 
make  the  spell.  The  horse  coming  at 
the  Call  of  Battle  symbolises  the  war- 
rior's joy,  the  "stern  delight  of  battle 
with  one's  peers."  Such  enthusiasm  is 
an  affair  of  the  blood,  a  mere  pugilistic 
fervour;  but  in  respect  of  its  strength- 
giving  qualities  — and  that  is  the  point 
of  the  Allegory  —  it  takes  worthy  rank 
among  the  three  hairs.  Opposition  — 
the  Call  of  Battle  —  sooner  than  any- 
thing else  puts  a  man  on  his  mettle. 
Luther  confessed  that  he  never  was  at 
his  best  until  roused,  made  angry  by 
opposition.  All  great  men  of  action  in 
that  matter  resemble  Luther,  The  joy 
of  battle  is  their  strength. 

This  enthusiasm  may  be  partly  ac- 
quired, but  it  comes  mainly  by  the 
grace    of    nature.     No    man    can    be    a 

80 


ENTHUSIASM 

soldier  without  drill,  but  drill  itself 
never  made  a  soldier.  Shibli  Bagarag 
has  always  had  this  war-instinct.  There 
is  battle  in  his  blood.  Shagpat  thinks 
he  has  given  him  his  quietus,  thwacked 
him  into  quiescence.  He  will  yet  know 
that  these  thwacks  were  but  the  Call 
of  Battle,  putting  Shibli  Bagarag  on 
his  mettle,  bringing  him  Garraveen, 
the    mighty    horse. 

The  Musk-ball  may  be  said  to  signify 
sensuous  glamour,  and  in  connection 
with  the  horse  Garraveen  to  indicate 
the  enthusiasm  which  comes  from  gen- 
uine delight  in  work.  It  is  the  joy  of 
the  artist  in  his  high  creative  flights, 
the  glad,  passionate  activity  in  which 
irksome  elements  of  drudgery  vanish 
and  purposes  are  accomplished  with 
happy  ease.  This  form  of  enthusiasm 
is  at  once  the  inspirer  and  rewarder 
of  the  world's  best  work.  Genius  is 
extasy,  brings  in  its  workings  the  joy 
of  extasy.  It  is  the  "I"  merged  and 
sublimated  in  the  "yet  not  I,"  man 
carried  out  of  and  so  entering  into 
kingly  possession  of  himself.  Genius 
may  have  as  its  concomitant  the  "fac- 
ulty   of    taking    infinite    pains,"  but    in 

8i 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

itself  genius  knows  nothing  of  pains. 
It  is  an  inspired  state;  could  it  con- 
tinue, be  Shibli  Bagarag's  in  dependable 
possession,  he  would  scarcely  need 
other  strength.  But  of  necessity  it  can 
be  his  only  in  brief  and  fickle  visitation. 
There  are  ploddings,  drudgeries,  drab 
and  dreary  toils  before  him,  and  for 
these  he  needs  another  strength.  The 
Call  of  Battle  enthusiasm,  the  Musk- 
ball  enthusiasm  for  his  great  moods, 
his  stirring,  dramatic  moments;  but 
that  he  may  be  loyal  on  his  dismal 
days,  cope  with  life's  routine  of  unin- 
teresting duties,  Shibli  Bagarag  must 
have  a  lame  Garraveen  —  a  drudge's 
enthusiasm.  Though  enthusiasm,  by  its 
nature,  is  that  which  banishes  drudgery, 
yet  the  phrase,  drudge's  enthusiasm, 
implies  no  contradiction.  For  enthus- 
iasm banishes  drudgery  by  the  paradox- 
ical method  of  teaching  man  mightily 
to  drudge.  God's  way  is  to  lead  man 
out  of  the  wood  by  driving  him  further 
into  it,  to  bring  him  salvation  from 
drudgery  by  making  him  an  enthusiastic 
drudge.  A  drudge's  enthusiasm  is  dis- 
tinguished from,  ennobled  above  other 
enthusiasms,    in    that    it    is    purely    an 

82 


ENTHUSIASM 

affair  of  the  will.  There  are  periods 
when  all  that  is  good  in  a  man  must 
retire  into  his  will,  find  there  its  sole 
conscious  existence.  Love  is  normally 
a  sentiment,  an  emotion,  rather  than 
a  direct  affair  of  the  will.  Yet  there  are 
moments  —  they  are  its  tonic  moments 
—  when  love's  glad  expansiveness,  its 
rainbow-tinted  emotions  quite  vanish, 
when  it  consciously  exists  not  as  sen- 
timent but  as  pure  volition.  The  verb 
to  love  has  an  imperative  mood,  and 
it  is  in  such  mood  it  confirms,  reinvig- 
orates  itself,  finds  its  nobility.  So  is 
it  with  a  drudge's  enthusiasm.  It  is 
enthusiasm  of  the  bare  will,  enthusiasm 
divorced  from  its  extatic  delights,, 
its  easy  and  spontaneous  strengths, 
stripped  indeed  of  all  its  sweets,  made 
an  affair  of  mere  tenacity,  stubbornness 
of  purpose.  No  God-intoxication  of  the 
soul  does  this  sort  of  enthusiasm  seem, 
rather,  maybe,  a  God-desertion;  but 
man  is  never  so  near  God  as  w^hen  he 
serves  Him  uncheered  by  the  light  of 
His  countenance.  For  verily  there  is 
divinity  in  drudgery.  God  tingles  in  the 
warrior's  nerves,  flashes  in  the  artist's 
brain,    hides    incalculable    in    Godhood 

83 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

in  the  drudge's  heart.  In  drudgery 
lies  the  root  enthusiasm  of  life.  Every 
drudge  is  in  training  to  be  a  genius. 
If  the  world's  best  work  is  never 
drudgery,  yet  without  drudgery  the 
world  w^ould  have  no  best  work. 
Wanted  then  this  mightiest  among 
spells,  a  drudge's  enthusiasm.  Wanted 
Garraveen,  the  glorious  horse,  to  be 
tamed,  yoked,  set  to  the  plough.  Gar- 
raveen, let  it  be  admitted,  can  be  tamed 
by  many  means.  Satan  has  his  drudges 
as  well  as  God,  nor  are  they  behind 
God's  in  enthusiasm.  Men  oftimes 
prove  their  divinity  by  the  thorough- 
ness with  which  they  violate  it,  the 
mightiness  of  their  drudgery  to  attain 
paltry  and  unworthy  ends.  Garraveen 
can  indeed  be  tamed  in  many  ways, 
but  for  arduous,  world-helping  work 
such  as  Shibli  Bagarag  is  engaged  in 
one  power  alone  can  permanently  suf- 
fice. It  is  religion  —  tracing  the  sacred 
sign  of  the  Crescent  on  the  forehead 
of  the  horse.  But  why  religion  ?  Could 
not  the  sense  of  duty  serve  Shibli 
Bagarag  as  well  ?  Maybe,  but  as  matter 
of  fact  the  world's  great  exemplars  of 
duty   have,  perhaps   without  exception, 

84 


ENTHUSIASM 

been     devoutly     religious     men.       For 
somehow  the  sense  of  duty,  when  it  is 
strong    enough    to    urge    to    great    self- 
denials,    seems    inevitably    and    in    the 
nature  of  things  to  find  for  itself  relig- 
ious   sanction.     Duty    is    so    near    God 
that   the   man   who   grasps   duty  grasps 
God  also.     It  is  vain  therefore  to  exalt 
duty    to    a    position    of    independence; 
duty     itself     repudiates     independence, 
clings    for    sanction    to    the    throne    of 
God.     Rationalism  cannot  explain  why 
this    should   be    so.      Man   is    too    deep 
for    his    own    fathoming.       He    cannot 
solve    the    mystery    of   his    own    spirit, 
make   clear   to   himself   the   secret   that 
underlies    its    instincts    and    impulses. 
Anyhow  'tis   certain   that   the   Allegory 
here  grips  the   truth   of  things.     Shibli 
Bagarag  knows  Noorna  as  duty;    if  he 
would   be   altogether   loyal   to    her   his 
heart  must  further  acknowledge  her  to 
be  divine,  know  her  to  be  indeed  "Stern 
Daughter   of   the   Voice   of   God."    No- 
thing can  enable  him  to  drudge  enthu- 
siastically at  the  world-helping  work  he 
has  undertaken  but  religion  —  the  sacred 
sign    of   the    Crescent    on    the    horse's 
forehead.     To  be  altogether  strong,  to 

85 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE   SPELLS 

be  broad  based  in  his  strength,  to 
have  that  calm,  continuous  enthusiasm 
which,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  tides  of  blood,  the 
moods  and  fluctuations  of  spirit,  it  is 
necessary  that  Shibli  Bagarag  should 
know  himself  in  that  humblest  yet 
noblest  of  capacities  —  servant  of  God, 
mouthpiece  of  the  Universal.  He  who 
seeks  his  own  glory  sickens  at  even 
while  he  pursues  the  search:  he  who 
seeks  God's  glory  grows  in  ardour  with 
the  years.  The  horse  Garraveen  is 
tamed,  made  capable  of  drudgery  by  the 
power  of  religion.  This  spell,  third  and 
mightiest  in  that  trinity  of  strengths 
which  are  the  three  hairs,  will  outlast 
the  others,  be  at  every  time  available. 
The  time  may  come  when,  sobered 
and  unmettled  by  age,  Shibli  Bagarag 
will  no  longer  be  as  a  war-horse  neigh- 
ing at  the  Call  of  Battle.  The  time  may 
come  when,  broken  and  weary,  the 
Musk-ball  will  quite  fail  of  its  glamour, 
and  work  be  mere  drudgery.  Even  so 
he  will  not  faint  nor  grow  weary.  The 
mark  of  the  Crescent,  the  seal  of  God, 
is  on  his  spirit.  "As  sorrowing  yet  al- 
way  rejoicing"  he  can  endure  to  the  end. 

86 


ENTHUSIASM 

Youthful  enthusiasm  cannot  be  alto- 
gether circumspect;  it  would  argue 
lack  of  enthusiasm  if  it  were.  The 
art  of  combining  zeal  with  discretion 
comes  only  with  the  years,  with  time's 
educative  burden  of  blunders.  But 
blunders  are  educative  in  no  other 
sense  than  that  they  have  to  be  paid 
for;  and  while  God  keeps  the  avenging 
of  crimes  in  his  own  hands,  he  en- 
trusts to  fortune  the  task  of  avenging 
blunders.  Shibli  Bagarag  blunders  and 
suffers.  He  refuses  to  dismount  from 
Garraveen,  that  "bounding  wave  of 
bliss,"  laughs  at  Nooma's  warnings 
about  the  "red  pit  of  destruction." 
Woe  to  the  rider  when  Garraveen  gets 
the  bit  between  his  teeth.  Enthusiasm 
must  be  held  in  check,  made  subject 
to  the  manifold  restraints  of  patience 
and  policy.  Perhaps  never  yet  came 
the  right  by  quixotic  and  untimely  tilt- 
ing against  the  wrong;  only  such  poor 
judges  are  we  of  the  times  and  seasons 
that  we  can  seldom  positively  tell 
when  tilting  is  untimely.  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  fault  was  not  that  he  erred  in 
judgment,  but  that  he  altogether  neg- 
lected to  Judge.    He  simply  let  his  zeal 

87 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

run  away  with  him.  Under  discreet 
treatment  Karaz  might,  some  little  time 
longer,  have  remained  an  enchanted 
ass,  subservient  to  uses.  But  the  un- 
veiled and  intemperate  policy  of  the 
reformer  broke  the  spell.  Karaz  became 
resentfully  awake,  no  longer  an  ass  but 
a  mighty  genie,  and  at  his  hands  Shibli 
Bagarag  suffered  a  most  sobering  fall. 


88 


IDEALISM 


THE  third  Spell  to  be  acquired 
was  the  Lily  of  the  Enchanted 
Sea.  It  was  a  Lily  of  sur- 
passing beauty  and,  for  such  was 
its  virtue,  it  was  the  ordeal  of  beauty 
for  all  things.  Nothing  earthly,  not 
the  fairest  of  human  characters,  not 
the  best  of  human  institutions,  but 
blinked  and  grew  blemish-marked  in  its 
presence.  What  can  this  terrible  Lily 
be  but  the  Ideal,  the  soul's  vision  of 
what  ought  to  be?  That  is  the  dream 
which  puts  to  blush  earth's  best  reality. 
And  since  it  is  on  its  aesthetic  side  that 
a  man's  Ideal  appeals  to  him,  since  the 
good  visions  itself  as  the  beautiful, 
could  anything  more  fitly  symbolise  it 
than  the  Lily  in  its  sweet  and  stainless 
beauty  ? 

Without  this  Lily  Shibli  Bagarag 
would  have  been  no  reformer,  but  a 
blind    and    bungling    iconoclast.       The 

89 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

reformer  must  have  the  prophetic 
vision,  must  see  the  things  that  are  not 
if  he  would  helpfully  meddle  with  the 
things  that  are.  Yet  he  must  not  be 
an  uncurbed  dreamer  picturing  expan- 
sively to  himself  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  unrelated  to,  not  to  be 
evolved  out  of,  the  old.  The  reformer's 
dreams  must  be  practical.  Be  his 
head  however  high  in  the  clouds,  his 
feet  must  keep  level  with  earth.  It  was 
happily  so  with  Shibli  Bagarag.  In  his 
search  for  the  Ideal  he  took  constant 
counsel  with  the  actual.  The  Water 
of  Paravid  —  insight  into  things  as  they 
are  —  was  had  recourse  to  on  every  oc- 
casion of  doubt.  To  understand  the 
actual  is  to  perceive  the  ideal.  Never 
in  the  realm  of  unchecked  dreams,  but 
only  in  the  actual,  bound  up  with  it, 
emerging  out  of  it  is  the  true  ideal  to 
be  found.  Hence  it  was  that  Shibli 
Bagarag,  the  practical  reformer,  con- 
tinually used  the  Water  of  Paravid  to 
guide  him  to  the  Lily  of  the  Enchanted 
Sea. 

Put  it  that  Karaz  were  still  an  (en- 
chanted ass,  could  his  back  have  served 
Shibli   Bagarag    on    this   as    on   former 

go 


IDEALISM 

cjuests?  It  seems  impossible.  Shibli 
Bagarag  in  this  quest  had  to  be  as  a 
free  spirit  "voyaging  through  strange 
seas  of  thought  alone."  Not  the  back 
of  Karaz,  but  a  finer  conveyance,  even 
the  cockle-shell  of  imagination,  could 
serve  him  now.  None  the  less  't  was 
a  misfortune  —  the  untimely  disenchant- 
ment of  Karaz,  for  were  he  still  in  his 
asshood,  though  he  could  not  help,  he 
would  not  hinder.  He  would  eat  the 
thistles  of  idleness,  no  menace  to  Shibli 
Bagarag.  As  it  is,  Karaz,  malevolent 
genie,  has  now  to  be  reckoned  with. 
His  first  effort,  a  cunning  one,  is  to  lead 
Shibli  Bagarag  astray  by  an  appeal  to 
the  youth's  easily  roused  vanity.  At 
the  flatteries  of  Karaz,  disguised  as  a 
sea-captain,  Shibli  Bagarag  "puffed  his 
chest,  and  straightened  his  legs  like  a 
cock,  and  was  as  a  man  on  whom  the 
Sultan  had  bestowed  a  dress  of  hon- 
our." If  he  can  be  kept  in  this  humor, 
hopeless  must  be  his  quest  after  the 
Lily.  A  man  may  be  vain  and  yet  a 
true  thinker,  but  to  the  extent  that  he 
puts  his  vanity  into  his  thinking  his 
thought  is  vitiated.  Thinking  is  an  im- 
personal process;   cannot  bear  the  taint 

91 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

of  selfhood.  Especially  true  is  this 
of  Shibli  Bagarag's  present  thinking. 
Ideals  of  whatever  kind  adumbrate 
God,  bring  man  fearsomely  near  to 
God,  It  must  be  in  the  spirit  of 
worship  man  struggles  after  the  ideal. 
Shibli  Bagarag  by  struggling  after  it  in 
the  spirit  of  vanity  has  put  himself  out 
of  the  way.  His  going  on  board  ship 
with  Karaz  is  merely  the  symbol  of 
this  spiritual  errancy.  Alas  that  Noorna 
is  not  by  his  side  now,  surely  her 
counsels  are  necessary  and  by  them 
alone  can  he  hope  to  prevail.  The 
story  has  it  that  Noorna  had  to  take 
leave  of  her  betrothed  in  order  to 
"counteract  the  machinations  of  Karaz." 
But  her  betrothed  being  the  butt  of  these 
machinations,  suffering  this  moment 
under  them,  is  it  not  by  his  side  and 
nowhere  else  that  Noorna,  as  counter- 
actor,  ought  to  be  7  But  in  this  matter 
the  wording  of  the  story  fails  to  convey 
the  subtle  truth  of  the  Allegory.  The 
fact  is  that  Shibli  Bagarag,  in  his  quest 
of  the  Ideal,  could  not  carry  with  him 
as  conscious  ambition,  ever  present 
sense  of  duty,  the  idea  of  shaving 
Shagpat.     The   quest  even  of  practical 

92 


IDEALISM 

ideals  carries  a  man,  in  some  sense, 
away  from  the  practical.  He  must  seek 
the  Ideal  for  its  own  sake,  and  with  no 
ulterior  object  in  view.  To  the  extent 
that  he  has  ulterior  object,  however 
worthy,  in  view,  he  must  be  said  to  fail 
in  pure  loyalty  to  the  Ideal.  The  truth 
has  its  uses;  but  if  it  is  sought  prim- 
arily for  its  uses  it  is  not  worthily 
sought,  and  will  scarcely  be  rightly 
found.  It  is  well  then  for  Shibli 
Bagarag  that  he  is  not  accompanied  by 
Noorna  in  his  quest  of  the  Lily.  But 
note  that  while  his  ambition  is  in  abey- 
ance, it  is  only  consciously  so.  It  has 
ceased  to  be  the  thing  thought  on,  but 
it  has  not  ceased,  cannot  cease,  to 
be  the  power  behind  his  thought.  So 
closely  has  it  gripped  him  that  he  does 
not  need  to  be  thinking  on  it  to  be 
under  its  influence.  It  has  passed  into 
his  subconscious  self,  that  sublim- 
inal region,  miraculous  laboratory  of 
thought,  whence  well  up  guidances, 
impulses,  intuitions,  those  things  which 
make  the  man.  Thus  though  Noorna 
has  gone,  Shibli  Bagarag  has  with 
him  as  her  representative  the  Talk- 
ing   Hawk,     For    the    present    he    has 

93 


THE   QUEST   OF   THE   SPELLS 

ceased    to    think    of    his    ambition,    but 
his  ambition  is,  so   to   speak,   thinking 
for    him  — flashing    forth    in    his    need 
warnings,  admonitions,  sparks  of  guid- 
ance.     The    swift   pouncing    swoop    of 
the  hawk  finely  symbolises  these  sparks 
of  guidance,  abrupt  and  warning  gleams 
of  intuition.     By  the  subtle  manner  in 
which  they  are  associated  with  Noorna 
we   have   suggested   to   us   a  noble   art, 
no  less  than  the  art  whereby  each  man 
may    summon    to    himself    a   guardian 
angel,  have  it  with  him  in  his  need.     A 
great    love,    a    passionate    ambition    is 
omnipresent.      When    not   in    a    man's 
consciousness   it   is   yet   effectively   be- 
hind it,   flashing   reproof   upon   him   in 
his  errancy,  and  guidance  in  his  doubt. 
As  a  good  angel   it  takes  lodgment  in 
his  soul,  keeping  watch  and  guard  there 
that  he  lapse  not  into  disloyalty.     This 
privilege    pertains    to    passionate    love, 
earnest  ambition  of  every  sort.     When 
Noorna  departs,  as  from  time   to   time 
she   must,   she    does   not    leave   herself 
without   witness.     The    Talking   Hawk, 
the  Socratic  caini.n'   takes  her  place. 

As    has    been    said    taking    ship    with 
Karaz  is  merely  symbolical  expression 

94 


IDEALISM 

of  the  fact  that  Shibli  Bagarag's  vanity- 
has  led  him  astray.  He  is  saved,  yet  so 
as  by  shipwreck.  How  otherwise  could 
he  be  saved?  Woe  to  a  vain  man  who 
prospers  in  his  ways.  Vanity  overfed 
on  success  becomes  little  to  be  distin- 
guished from  insanity;  but  in  failure 
there  is  wholesome  medicine.  Scarcely 
could  a  thoroughly  successful  man, 
were  there  any  such,  enter  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven;  for  though  the  Kingdom 
be  infinitely  wide  and  high,  the  en- 
trance door  is  low;  one  must  stoop 
and  humble  himself  in  order  to  pass. 
We  would  all  be  lost  but  for  our  fail- 
ures; it  is  in  the  shipwreck  of  our  lives 
that  we  find  opportunity  of  salvation. 
Therefore  it  is  that  God  continually 
thwarts  us  to  bless  us,  stands  up  against 
us  that  we  rush  not  presumptuously  to 
our   ruin. 

When  Christian  went  off  the  path 
his  penalty  was  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  Giant  Despair,  and  to  be  kept  pris- 
oner in  Doubting  Castle.  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's penalty  for  similar  errancy  was 
to  flounder,  well  nigh  unto  drowning, 
in  the  waters.  Meredith's  symbolism  is 
richer  than  Bunyan's,  and  has  the  merit 

95 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

of  being  Biblical.  The  consciousness 
of  sin  takes  the  solid  ground  from 
under  a  man,  makes  him  welter,  toss, 
struggle  amid  a  jumble  of  doubts,  fears, 
despondencies.  He  is  like  a  drowning 
man,  his  supports  gone,  his  wild  strug- 
gles to  right  himself  but  plunging  him 
deeper  under  the  waters.  Bunyan's 
symbolism  for  this  state  of  mind  is 
lifeless,  artificial,  as  compared  with 
Meredith's.  Neither  —  and  here  also  the 
two  Allegorists  are  giving  symbolical 
expression  to  substantially  the  same 
truth  —  is  the  key  by  which  Christian 
delivered  himself  from  imprisonment  to 
be  counted  equal  for  suggestiveness  to 
the  description  of  the  Hawk  supporting 
Shibli  Bagarag  in  the  waters,  holding 
him  up  by  the  Hair,  the  Identical.  In 
Shibli  Bagarag's  case,  any  man's  case, 
the  Identical  must  be  taken  to  represent 
that  something  which  is  the  ultimate 
reality,  the  root-strength  of  his  nature. 
Many  supports,  many  faiths  man  may 
have  in  his  easy,  normal  hours;  but 
in  moments  of  extremity  these,  in  so 
far  as  they  are  superficial,  vanish,  and 
the  root-faith,  the  basal  strength  of  his 
nature  is  what  he  leans  on.    That  root 

96 


IDEALISM 

faith,  whatever  it  be,  is  the  Identical. 
When  all  else  is  gone  it  is  by  that 
he  is  buoyed  up,  supported  in  the 
waters.  Men  often  mistake  the  fash- 
ions they  affect  for  the  faiths  they 
hold,  but  not  during  an  experience  in 
the  waters.  In  shipwreck  they  discover 
their  Identical.  A  man  can  never  carry 
his  heart  with  him  into  the  barren 
realms  of  agnosticism.  He  may  profess 
a  know-nothing  attitude  towards  the 
mystery  of  things,  but  his  heart,  being 
itself  the  mirror  and  epitome  of  that 
mystery,  bursts  mockingly  upon  him 
with  its  stores  of  ungotten  knowledge. 
Even  the  agnostic  has  thus  a  faith 
which  his  intellect,  labour  suicidally  as 
it  likes,  cannot  destroy.  He  also  is 
held  up  in  the  waters  by  his  Identical. 
The  wonders  performed  by  Shibli 
Bagarag  in  his  interview  with  the  King 
of  Oolb  are  readily  understandable  in 
the  light  of  explanations  now  given. 
The  interview  is  notable  mainly  for  the 
shave  which  the  youth  was  permitted 
to  give  King  and  courtiers.  By  his 
Paravidic  eloquence  he  managed  to 
convince  the  King  that  change  with 
respect  to  Shagpatian  fashions  was  im- 

97 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

minent,  that  a  new  and  happier  era  for 
barbercraft  was  due.  The  King,  be 
it  noted,  did  not  trouble  to  enquire 
whether  this  change  would  be  for  the 
better.  His  one  point  of  policy  was  to 
support  the  winning  side;  his  one  point 
of  genius  to  discover  a  day  in  advance 
of  the  world  what  the  winning  side  was 
to  be.  Since  barbercraft  was  destined 
to  be  in  the  ascendant  the  King  then 
and  there  had  himself  shaved.  It  was 
a  great  matter  for  Shibli  Bagarag  —  a 
mighty  furtherance  to  his  quest  after 
the  Ideal  — this  shave  of  King  and  court 
of  Oolb.  So  limited  are  the  powers  of 
man  that  he  can  seldom  be  quite  sure 
in  regard  to  the  changes  he  advocates 
how  far  they  would  work  for  ^ood, 
until  he  sees  them,  studies  them  in  op- 
eration. Thought  needs  the  verification 
of  fact,  must  give  birth  to  fact  before 
it  can  estimate  its  own  value.  Actual 
experiments  in  reform  are  invariably 
necessary  to  make  clear  to  the  reformer 
the  real  meaning  and  drift  of  his  work. 
Shibli  Bagarag  is  therefore  in  educative 
surroundings.  He  is  between  the  old 
and  the  new,  the  unshaved  and  the 
shaved;    has  opportunity  of  comparing 

98 


IDEALISM 

them,  studying  the  nature  and  effects 
of  the  shave,  and  so  arriving-  at  a  clearer 
conception  of  his  Ideal  — his  shaved 
Shagpat.  Meredith  read  deeply  into 
the  reality  of  things  when  he  brought 
Shibli  Bagarag  to  the  City  of  Oolb  in 
his  quest  of  the  Lily. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to 
the  fact  that  men  who  succeed  in 
banishing  any  tyranny  of  lies  from  the 
world  have  generally  at  one  period  of 
their  lives  themselves  been  under  that 
tyranny;  that  indeed  it  is  in  the  process 
of  emancipating  themselves  that  they 
emancipate  the  world.  In  that  part  of 
the  Allegory  entitled  "The  Flashes  of 
the  Blade"  we  have  an  account  of  how 
Shibli  Bagarag  liberated  the  world:  in 
the  story  of  his  relations  with  Princess 
Goorelka,  and  his  plucking  the  Lily,  we 
have  an  account  of  how  he  liberated 
himself.  Noise,  commotion  enough,  as 
will  be  seen,  there  was  in  the  objective 
side  of  his  work  —  liberating  the  world. 
The  emancipation  of  his  own  thought 
was  conducted  without  observation. 
The  China  jar  of  wine  which  drugged 
the  sentinels,  and  the  dress  of  Samar- 
cand    which    rendered    Shibli    Bagarag 

99 


THE   QUEST   OF   THE   SPELLS 

invisible,  symbolise  the  fact  that  the 
process  of  thought  emancipation  is  in 
itself  a  secret  process.  But  if  carried 
on  by  itself  it  would  soon  also  become 
an  arrested  process.  It  is  impossible 
to  continue  to  receive  light  unless  one 
is  at  the  same  time  trying  to  impart  it. 
Giving  is  the  price  of  getting;  teaching 
the  condition  of  learning.  Hence  neither 
the  China  jar  nor  the  dress  of  Samar- 
cand  could  save  such  a  youth  as  Shibli 
Bagarag  from  detection.  All  that  is 
meant  is  that  his  quest,  in  so  far  as 
it  was  purely  subjective,  did  not  itself 
lay  him  open  to  detection.  He  attained 
unto  light  quietly;  it  was  when  he  at- 
tempted to  spread  the  light  that  there 
was  noise. 

Soon  as  Shibli  Bagarag  had  plucked 
the  Lily  behold  the  beautiful  Goorelka 
shrivelled  into  ugliness,  and  Noorna  — 
that  still  uncomely  one  — burst  on  his 
enraptured  eyes  "a  young  perfection," 
"the  very  dream  of  loveliness."  It 
will  be  enough  to  state  that  Goorelka's 
beauty  may  be  taken  to  represent  the 
fascination  which,  owing  to  false  stan- 
dards of  taste,  erroneous  social  ideals, 
the  Shagpat  superstition  exercised  over 

I  GO 


IDEALISM 

men.     On   that   interpretation    Noorna, 
the  negation  of  Goorelka,  must  in  this 
connection  and  in  respect  of  her  ugU- 
ness,    represent    the    abhorrence    with 
which  society  view^ed  the  idea  of  non- 
hairiness.     Fashion    rules    the    world's 
thinking  as  tyrannically  as  the  world's 
tailoring,  and  fashion  had  decreed  that 
Goorelka  alone  was  beautiful.      For  a 
time    Shibli    Bagarag    was    led    by    the 
fashion.      Youth   is   necessarily   recep- 
tive.  It  drinks  in  with  easy  unquestion- 
ing  faith   the   opinions   and   prejudices 
of  the  age.    But  being  destined  to  great 
things,   Shibli   Bagarag   early   began   to 
put    the    world    through    the    sieve    of 
thought.     While  yet  gazing  fascinated 
on  the  face   of   Goorelka   the    Talking 
Hawk  began  to  shriek  disapproval,  the 
intuitions  of  his  soul  to  prophesy  div- 
iner beauty.    By  following  enquiringly, 
though  still  fascinated,  on  the  track  of 
the     false  —  trailing     behind     Goorelka 
through     the     Enchanted     Sea  — he     at 
length   came   upon   the   Lily.     The   at- 
tainment   of    an    independent    standard 
of  judgment  set  him  free  from  conven- 
tional   standards.      The    fashion-ridden 
world     might     continue     to     proclaim 

lOI 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

Goorelka  beautiful;  him  at  least  it 
could  no  longer  deceive.  He  stood  on 
the  hill-tops  of  life,  fronting  the  light 
of  God,  seeing  Goorelka  and  Noorna  as 
they  were. 

This  happy  transformation  of  Noorna 
is  a  great  matter  for  Shibli  Bagarag. 
It  means  that  his  inward  struggle  is 
over,  that  he  is  now  in  a  position  to 
throw  himself  whole-heartedly  into  the 
work  of  shaving  Shagpat.  It  is  seen 
to  be  such  noble,  world-helping  work 
that,  despite  its  difficulties  and  dangers, 
he  cannot  but  be  in  love  with  it. 
Noorna  may  still  bring  him  thwacks, 
but  for  the  joy  of  being  betrothed  to 
such  a  beauty,  he  will  count  thwacks 
a  small  matter.  Shibli  Bagarag  has  at- 
tained unto  light.  His  Ideal  has  burst 
upon  him  in  its  beauty,  and  Noorna  — 
as  personifying  the  effort  to  realise  the 
Ideal  —  has  become  correspondingly 
beautiful.  It  was  long  before  Luther 
fully  grasped  his  Lily  — his  Ideal  of  a 
Reformed  Church.  But  when  he  did 
his  Noorna  also  burst  into  beauty.  His 
battle  with  Rome  no  longer  meant  a 
battle  with  himself.  In  respect  to  that 
Luther  was  henceforth  at  peace,  could 

102 


IDEALISM 

only  be  at  peace  in  the  midst   of  war. 

Karaz,  the  enchanted  ass,  conveyed 
Shibli  Bagarag  to  the  Well  of  Paravid: 
the  cockle-shell  of  Goorelka  conveyed 
him  to  the  Lily  of  the  Enchanted  Sea. 
In  that  there  lie  several  fruitful  parallels 
and  contrasts.  Enough  here  to  state 
that  what  is  next  door  to  the  truth  is 
never  a  vacuum  but  a  falsehood. 
Activity  of  thought,  though  thought 
should  be  erroneous,  is  better  than  ab- 
sence of  thought,  for  truth,  while  it 
may  dispossess  error,  never  dispos- 
sesses emptiness.  So  with  worship, 
which  is  merely  the  heart's  recognition 
of  truth.  Better  than  to  have  no  Ideal 
is  it  to  trail  fascinated  after  a  false 
one;  for  the  earnestly  worshipping  eye 
is  after  all  the  deeply  enquiring  one, 
and    to    such   truth    comes. 

Everything  in  this  beautiful  and  won- 
derful description  of  the  Enchanted  Sea 
and  the  Lily  therefore  is  significant. 
But  little  further  interpretation  is  re- 
quired. For  this  Enchanted  Sea  is  to 
none  of  us  an  unfamiliar  Sea.  We  have 
ourselves,  even  the  least  poetic  of  us, 
sailed  thereon,  perhaps  even  plucked 
one    of    its    Lilies.     Would    we    know 

103 


THE    QUEST    OF    THE    SPELLS 

whether  the  Lily  of  our  plucking  is 
worthless  flower  or  potent  spell  ?  Then 
let  us  see  to  its  root.  Shibli  Bagarag's 
Lily  had  for  its  root  a  living,  palpitating 
heart.  Many  flowers,  similar  maybe  in 
appearance,  have  for  their  root  nothing 
better  than  somnolent,  ill-fed  brains. 
Only  Lilies  with  heart  for  root  are 
Spells  acknowledged  in  Aklis.  An  Ideal 
which  lives  merely  in  the  intellect  is  a 
scheme,  a  theory,  an  airy  and  unfruitful 
speculation.  An  Ideal  which  is  rooted 
in  and  fed  by  the  heart  is  a  masterful 
power,  compelling  to  action. 

But  perhaps  we  leave  our  Lily  un- 
plucked,  content  ourselves  with  drink- 
ing its  dew.  Shibli  Bagarag  was  about 
to  succumb  to  this  temptation  when 
the  watchful  Hawk  pounced  on  the 
proffered  hand  of  temptress  Goorelka, 
scattering  the  dew,  and  screaming  this 
reproof:  "Pluck  up  the  Lily  ere  it  is 
too  late  O  Fool!  — the  dew  was  poison. 
Pluck  it  by  the  root  with  thy  right 
hand."  Clearly  the  temptation  here  was 
to  treat  the  Ideal  in  dilettante  fashion, 
to  suck  its  sweets,  rave,  enthuse  over 
its  beauty  — and  nothing  more.  When 
a  man  makes  noble  thought  minister  to 

104 


IDEALISM 

his  self-indulgence,  when  he  broods 
idly,  for  the  sweetness  it  brings  him, 
on  what  is  beautiful  and  sublime,  he 
is  but  poisoning  his  own  soul.  The 
poison  is  subtle,  hard  to  be  detected. 
Man  is  apt  to  think  that  he  is  serving 
God  because  he  enthuses  over  the 
things  of  God;  that  he  is  religious 
because  he  luxuriates  in  the  sweets  of 
religion.  Truly  self-indulgence  in  re- 
gard to  noble  things  is  subtlest,  hardest 
to  be  detected  of  poisons,  but  deadly 
poison  none  the  less.  Be  practical  with 
your  Ideal.  Pluck  the  Lily  "by  the  root 
with  thy  right  hand."  The  dew  that 
is  in  it  — the  sweets  of  sentimentalism, 
of  enthusing,  philandering  —  are  pois- 
oned sweets.  May  the  Talking  Hawk 
be  with  you  in  your  need  to  teach  you 
that! 


105 

H 


THE   SWAY   OF  RABESQURAT 


SPECULATION. 


ALLEGORY  divests  life's  exper- 
iences of  their  time  and  space 
relations,  and  rearranges  them 
according  to  their  thought  relations. 
The  law  of  association  is  ignored,  the 
deeper  law  of  spiritual  affinity  takes  its 
place.  In  the  light  of  this  principle  the 
time  order  in  which  these  three  Spells 
were  acquired  must  be  discounted. 
Doubtless  the  basal  Spell  was  insight 
into  facts,  and  in  making  it  the  first  to 
be  acquired  Meredith  may  be  considered 
true  not  only  to  the  order  of  logic,  but 
to  some  extent  even  to  that  of  time. 
But  practically  the  quest  of  all  three 
Spells  was  pursued   simultaneously. 

It  is  manifest  that  they  are  genuine 
Spells,  that  the  Allegory  is  broad-based 
on  the  truth  of  things.  Insight  —  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  things  as  they  are: 
Idealism  —  clear  vision  of  things  as  they 
ought  to  be :    Enthusiasm  —  strength  to 

109 


THE   SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

change  things  as  they  are  into  things 
as  they  ought  to  be  —  can  it  be  denied 
that  these,  no  more  and  no  less,  are 
the  spells  needed  for  success,  whatever 
be  the  sphere  of  man's  activity?  It  is 
not,  of  course,  the  worker's  tools  which 
these  spells  symbolise;  it  is  merely 
the  skill  to  properly  handle  his  tools. 
But  the  skill  is  everything  since  God 
is  glad  to  avail  himself  of  all  the 
talent  there  is.  If  incompetent  work- 
men compete  for  work,  work,  in  return, 
competes  for  competent   workmen. 

But  the  candidate  for  greatness  is  not 
yet  great.  He  has  the  spells  indeed, 
but  as  yet  he  has  put  them  to  no  im- 
portant use.  There  is  no  notable  work 
to  his  credit.  Were  his  career  to  end 
at  this  stage,  he  would,  at  best  be  num- 
bered among  the  brilliant  possibilities, 
the  great  might-have-beens  of  life.  But 
history  has  no  room,  nor  has  nature 
a  crown  for  the  might-have-beens.  On 
then  Shibli  Bagarag,  sw^ift  and  sure  as 
arrow  from  bow,  to  claim  the  Sword 
and  complete  the  shave.  Do  something, 
be  crowned  v/ith  an  achievement.  Mas- 
ter of  an  Event;  then  indeed  you  will 
be  great,  God  and  man  acknowledging 

no 


SPECULATION 

your  greatness.  But  hacks  that  are 
always  on  the  trot  never  win  races; 
and  men  who  do  n't  know  the  art  of 
rational  idleness  never  attain  unto 
mellow  humanity.  Shibli  Bagarag  is 
going  to  linger  awhile  on  the  Enchant- 
ed Sea  —  the  realm  of  imagination  —  to 
dream  dreams.  Do  n't  count  the  study 
of  dreams  necessarily  a  vain  study. 
Even  the  irresponsible  dreams  of  sleep 
may  play  a  great  part  in  life,  thrust 
themselves  in  among  realities,  twist  and 
turn  them  with  necromantic  power. 
And  as  for  day-dreams,  are  they  not 
the  origin  and  breeding  ground  alike  of 
man's  baseness  and  nobility?  All  his 
life-history  is  foreshadowed  in  his 
dreams.  "Out  of  the  heart  are  the 
issues  of  life";  hence  in  day-dreams, 
the  unchecked  wellings  up  of  the  heart, 
the  inmost  key  to  human  character  is  to 
be  found.  Know  what  a  man's  imag- 
ination revels  in,  what  his  thoughts, 
when  off  the  chain,  scamper  back  to, 
and  you  know  the  inmost  secret  of  the 
man.  Also  in  relation  to  the  world, 
man  is  a  creator  in  virtue  of  being  a 
dreamer.  It  is  not  only  that  every  fact 
was    once    a    fancy,    that    all    that     is 

III 


THE    SWAY    OF   RABESQURAT 

realised  on  earth  was  once  in  air,  but 
that  to  the  last,  the  root,  the  essence  of 
every  actuality  remains  a  dream.  When 
the  root  withers,  when  the  dream  van- 
ishes, the  actuality  is  on  the  way  back 
to  primitive  nothingness.  Certainly 
then  the  study  of  dreams  need  not  be  a 
vain  study. 

Consider  a  noble  dream  that  came  to 
Shibli  Bagarag  on  the   Enchanted  Sea. 

Less  even  than  other  parts  of  the 
Allegory  can  the  story  of  Noorna  and 
the  Genie  Karaz  bear  prosaic  thorough- 
ness of  interpretation.  It  is  essentially 
a  dream-story,  a  fabric  of  visionary 
thought.  This  is  manifest  from  the 
nature  of  the  story  itself,  but  Meredith 
gives  additional  guidance.  The  story 
was  related  by  Noorna  as  she  and  her 
betrothed  sailed  the  Enchanted  Sea  on 
a  "pearly  Shell."  This  shell -as  being 
the  gift  of  Rabesqurat,  Queen  of  Illu- 
sions—necessarily itself  represented  an 
illusion.  As  such  it  is  not  to  be  taken 
as  something  different  from,  but  merely 
as  outward  symbol  of  Shibli  Bagarag's 
dream  —  the  indication  that  it  was  a 
dream.  Dreams  indeed  are  the  only 
vessels   on   which   man   floats   over   the 

112 


SPECULATION 

Enchanted  Sea,  and  this  noble  dream- 
vessel,  this  "pearly  shell  flashing  crim- 
son, amethyst  and  emerald"  finely  sym- 
bolises the  noble  dream  dreamed  by 
Shibli  Bagarag  thereon.  The  case  with 
him  was  that  under  the  glamour  of  a 
freshly-gotten  Idealism,  lighting  up  life 
to  him  with  new  meanings,  he  proved 
fruitful  in  speculations,  excursions  of 
thought.  His  reason  turned  dreamer, 
and  the  result  was  Philosophy;  for 
what  is  Philosophy  but  the  dream  of 
reason  ?  It  is  not  however  the  Phil- 
osophy of  the  schools,  or  anything  re- 
sembling it  we  have  here.  Its  kinship 
rather  is  with  the  Philosophy  of  the 
seer;  for  seers  also,  in  respect  that  their 
dreams  are  dreams  of  reason,  must  be 
said  to  have  their  Philosophy.  But 
reason  with  them  is  in  extatic  condition 
—  subject  so  to  illuminations,  inspira- 
tions, visitings  of  God,  but  subject 
also,  unless  in  special  guidance,  to 
disturbing  and  chaotic  influences. 
The  prophet's  dream  may  flash  forth 
wondrous  truth,  but  in  form  it  is 
seldom  other  than  broken,  incoherent, 
irrational.  Shibli  Bagarag's  dream  is 
of    this    nature.     Its    three    outstanding 

113 


THE   SWAY   OF   RABESQURAT 

symbolical  characters  are  Noorna,  Karaz 
and  Goorelka;  and  in  regard  to  none 
of  them  is  it  possible  to  define  their 
symbolism.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  mere 
inability  to  give  them  precise  labelling; 
that,  as  being  more  or  less  a  feature 
of  the  Allegory  throughout,  would  call 
for  no  comment.  What  is  meant  is  that 
the  characters  here  are  practically 
indeterminate.  They  represent  simply 
what  Meredith  chooses  for  the  occasion 
to  make  them  represent.  He  heaps 
thoughts  incongruously  upon  them, 
and  so  naive  is  he^  so  apparently  un- 
conscious of  the  incongruity,  as  to 
compel  the  conviction  that  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  story  is  a  dream-atmos- 
phere. It  is  by  treating  it  as  a  dream, 
not  boggling  over  incoherences  and 
incongruities,  but  accepting  contentedly 
such  gleams  of  meaning  as  it  offers, 
that  interpretation  becomes  possible. 
I  give  what  seems  the  general  signifi- 
cance of  the  story. 

Noorna  and  Goorelka,  here  as  always, 
are  opposites.  They  stand  respectively 
for  right  and  wrong  relationship  to 
Karaz  him  in  whom  resides  the  Power, 
the  Magical  Hair.     Goorelka,  by  means 

114 


SPECULATION 

of  the  Ring,  is  the  first  to  gain  power 
over  Karaz.  She  uses  her  power  wick- 
edly, transforming  men  into  singing 
birds,  peopling  her  cage  with  them, 
Noorna  afterwards  also  manages  to 
gain  possession  of  the  Ring,  but  she 
puts  the  power  it  brings  her  to  worthier 
use.  First  she  disenchants  the  occu- 
pants of  Goorelka's  cage,  restoring 
them  to  their  humanity.  Then  she  pulls 
the  Magical  Hair  from  the  head  of 
Karaz,  and  transplants  it  in  that  of 
Shagpat  —  him  whom  she  now  invites 
Shibli  Bagarag  to  shave.  But  Goorelka 
has  her  revenge.  By  sprinkling  dust 
on  the  petals  of  the  Lily  of  the  En- 
chanted Sea  she  robs  Noorna  of  her 
beauty  transforms  her  into  a  miracle 
of  ugliness.  Such,  so  far  as  is  neces- 
sary for  our  purpose,  is  the  outline  of 
this  amazing  story. 

Call,  if  you  like,  the  Magical  Hair 
of  Karaz  the  symbol  of  a  lie;  yet  its 
might,  pemiciousness  as  lie,  lay  in  its 
truth.  Potent  lies  are  never  pure  lies, 
oftener  than  not  they  are  pure  truths 
gripped  in  wrong  fashion.  When^  for 
instance,  the  egoist  grips  truth,  he  turns 
it  into  falsehood:    even  the  religion  of 

115 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

unselfishness,  as  grasped  by  him,  min- 
isters to  the  increase  of  his  selfishness. 
The  lie  of  the  Magical  Hair  is  some 
pubtle  perversion  of  truth,  fitting  so 
admirably  into  the  nature  of  man,  that 
as  unmaterialised  idea  —  on  the  head  of 
Karaz  —  detection  is  impossible.  It 
must  be  embodied  in  a  fact,  allowed  to 
work  itself  out,  unfold  its  nature  in 
alliance  with  fact,  before  it  can  be 
detected.  Hence  Noorna,  representing 
the  good  power,  soon  as  she  gets 
control  of  the  Hair,  pulls  it  from  the 
Genie's  head,  and  plants  it  in  that  of 
Shagpat.  Otherwise  put,  she  plants  the 
mighty  Hair  among  the  facts,  that  so 
working  itself  out,  unfolding  its  nature, 
detection  and  shaving  may  follow.  The 
immediate  result  of  her  action  is  doubt- 
less to  increase  the  unholy  power  of 
the  Hair.  As  unrealised  idea  —  unmater- 
ialised lie  —  it  had  held  a  select  body 
of  visionary  fools,  occupants  of  Goor- 
elka's  cage,  in  enchantment.  But  as 
planted  on  the  head  of  Shagpat  —  made 
a  visible  dignity,  a  potent  institution  — 
its  power  for  evil  is  immeasurably 
greater.  Nevertheless  in  this  manner, 
and     in     no      other,     can     the      world 

ii6 


SPECULATION 

ultimately  free  itself  from  the  enchant- 
ment of  the  Hair.  Nothing  is  discredited 
until  it  is  discredited  by  experience. 
Slavery,  Feudalism,  the  Divine  Right 
of  Kings  —  have  not  these  and  many 
other  Magical  Hairs  held  men  in  the 
past  in  enchantment?  And  had  they 
not  to  work  themselves  fully  out,  reveal 
by  abundant  interplay  with  facts  the 
falsehood  that  was  in  them,  before  it 
w^as  possible  to  shave  them  —  banish 
them  from  among  men  ?  In  the  world 
of  to-day,  Magical  Hairs,  many  of  them, 
are  working  themselves  out,  revealing 
the  good  or  evil  which  is  theirs.  Until 
the  revelation  is  complete,  it  is  fated 
that  they  hold  men  in  enchantment, 
and  no  power  can  break  the  enchant- 
ment. Are  there  not  also  mighty  Hairs 
rooted  still  in  the  head  of  Genii  — no- 
where yet  on  earth  —  holding  so  vision- 
aries in  enchantment,  making  them  sing 
the  song  of  enchantment?  Never  per- 
haps was  the  world  more  fruitful  in 
unrealised  ideas  than  at  present.  Genii 
float  before  its  vision  carrying  mighty 
Hairs,  potent,  each  one  of  them,  with 
the  magic  of  promise;  mightiest  of 
such    being    perhaps,   for    the    present, 

117 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

Socialism.  If  these  Hairs  are  good, 
Noorna,  the  beneficent  one,  will  trans- 
plant them  —  bring  them  to  earth  —  that 
men  may  rejoice  in  their  goodness.  If 
they  are  bad,  she  yet  in  her  -wisdom 
may  transplant  them,  that  men,  discern- 
ing their  badness,  may  shave  them,  rid 
themselves  of  enchantment.  But  truly 
good  and  bad  mingle  meanings  here. 
The  good  becomes  the  bad  when  men 
cleave  to  it  badly.  Even  a  worthy 
custom,  when  adhered  to  merely  as 
custom,  blights  the  spirit  of  man. 
Hence    it    is    that: 

"The  old  order  changeth,  yielding 
place  to  new, 

And  God  fulfils  himself  in 
many  w^ays, 

Lest  one  good  custom  should 
corrupt  the  world." 
This  dream  then,  if  we  may  still  call 
it  so,  is  reason's  dream  on  Providence, 
as  manifested  in  the  rise  and  fall  of 
systems  and  institutions.  To  enrich 
human  consciousness,  unfold  spirit 
unto  itself,  is  the  purpose  of  Providence 
in  history.  Hence  man  is  driven 
through  all  experiences,  but  permitted 
to  rest  in  none.     Truth   is  reached   by 

ii8 


SPECULATION 

him  in  no  other  way  than  by  climbing 
to  it  on  the  back  of  error;  error  there- 
fore has  place,  relative  value  in  the 
scheme  of  things.  Noorna  brings  about 
the  shaving  of  Shagpat,  yet  Noorna 
also  it  was  who  planted  the  Magical 
Hair  on  Shagpat.  Buildings  up  and 
puUings  down  are  alike  of  God. 

The  interpretation  now  given  will  be 
found  to  fit  into,  shed  light  upon  most 
of  the  intricacies  of  the  story.  Apply 
it  for  example  to  the  Ring  which  gave 
command  of  the  Magical  Hair  on  the 
head  of  Karaz.  In  terms  of  our  inter- 
pretation the  Ring  must  be  taken  to 
mean  approximately  knowledge.  Know- 
ledge is  mastery.  The  power  of  delu- 
sion lies  in  that  men  do  n't  know  it  to 
be  delusion.  Once  come  to  know,  and 
the  Ring  gives  them  power  over  the 
Hair.  But  power  only  while  it  remains 
on  the  head  of  Karaz.  On  the  head  of 
Shagpat  it  is  no  longer  under  but  a 
"contradiction  to  the  power  of  the 
Ring."  That  is  to  say,  knowledge  gives 
mastery  over  delusion  merely  as  delu- 
sion. But  to  the  extent  that  delusion 
is  materialised,  embodied  among  the 
facts    of    life,    made    say    a    powerful 

119 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

institution,  knowledge  in  itself  gives  no 
mastery.  The  Hair  of  Error  then  sets 
itself  in  opposition  to,  stubbornly  bat- 
tles against  the  Ring  of  Knowledge. 
When  Rome  made  it  her  policy  to 
suppress  such  enlightenment  as  threat- 
ened to  endanger  her  supremacy,  when 
she  struggled  to  confine  the  thought  of 
Christendom  to  grooves  prescribed  by 
herself —  it  was  the  Hair  acting  in  "con- 
tradiction to  the  power  of  the  Ring." 
And  though  chosen  spirits  continually 
brought  the  Ring  of  Knowledge  to  bear 
on  that  Hair  of  Error,  little  practical 
good  was  effected.  The  Ring  enabled 
them  to  see  the  error  but  not  to  abolish 
it;  gave  them  mastery  over  it  in  the 
abstract  —  as  on  the  head  of  Karaz,  but 
left  them  impotent  toward  it  in  the 
concrete  — as  on  the  head  of  Shagpat. 
Hence  the  fallacy  —  as  applicable  to 
Rome  in  her  power  —  of  that  saying  of 
Erasmus:  "Spread  the  light  and  dark- 
ness will  vanish  of  itself."  Translated 
into  allegorical  language  the  saying 
meant  that  since  the  Ring  had  power 
over  the  Hair  on  the  head  of  Karaz, 
it  must  also  have  power  over  it  on  the 
head  of  Shagpat.     Or,  giving  it  another 

120 


SPECULATION 

allegorical    translation,    it    meant    that 
provided  that  Shagpat's  Hair  was  lath- 
ered   sufficiently,    it    would    by    mirac- 
ulous  process,    and    without    touch    of 
razor,    shave    itself.      It    is    not    so    the 
world's    errors    are   abolished.      Every- 
thing is  to  be  fought  with  on  its  own 
plane  of  being.What  is  purely  spiritual 
is  to  be  overcome,  can  indeed  be  over- 
come, by  none  save  spiritual  weapons 
—  nought  save  the  Ring  can  master  the 
Hair  on  the  head  of  Karaz.     But  when 
a  thing  is  at  once  spiritual  and  material, 
then    on   both    planes    of    being   must 
battle     with     it    be    waged.      Lathering 
must  industriously  be  attended  to,  but 
after    the    lathering     must     come     the 
Sword. 

It  is  by  reference  to  a  change  in 
the  standards  of  taste  that  the  loss  of 
beauty  which  befell  Noorna  through 
Goorelka  casting  dust  on  the  petals  of 
the  Lily  is  to  be  explained.  Beauty  is 
in  the  eye  that  sees  it.  What  is  lovely 
in  the  eyes  of  one  age  or  people  may 
be  loathsome  in  the  eyes  of  another. 
The  case  with  Noorna  simply  was  that 
as  Shagpat  brought  hairiness  into  fash- 
ion,  she  as  representing  non-hairiness 

121 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

had  to  go  out  of  fashion.  It  was  she 
who  brought  the  Magical  Hair  to  earth 
—  that  being  the  only  way  by  which 
men  might  ultimately  free  themselves 
of  its  magic.  But  while  the  magic 
holds,  while  public  taste  continues 
vitiated,  Noorna  must  appear  ugly. 
She  thus,  as  representing  the  good 
power,  accepts  voluntary  martyrdom 
for  the  sake  of  the  world.  'Tis  by  this 
way  of  voluntary  martyrdom  that  good- 
ness achieves  all  its  victories;  the  cross 
is  the  universal  emblem  and  method 
of  its  power.  In  the  Gospel  is  thus 
found  the  central  truth,  which  is  also 
the  central  mystery,  of  the  moral  uni- 
verse. 

These  and  other  glimpses  of  pro- 
foundest  thought  will  reward  those 
who  study  this  portion  of  the  Allegory 
carefully.  Enough  has  here  been  said 
by   way   of   general   interpretation. 


122 


ILLUSION 


NEVER  is  Karaz  so  dangerous  as 
when  he  haunts  the  Enchanted 
Sea  in  the  form  of  fish.  Could 
he  be  altogether  excluded  from  these 
Waters,  kept  from  infesting  and  pol- 
luting the  imagination  of  man,  small 
damage  could  he  work.  But  while  man 
sails  Karaz  will  swim  the  Enchanted 
Sea,  preying  on  souls. 

But  behold  how  there  may  be  pro- 
tection from  Karaz,  the  shark  that  preys 
on  souls.  Open  mouthed  comes  the 
monster  to  devour  Shibli  Bagarag  as 
he  sails  the  Sea  in  the  "pearly  shell" 
of  his  noble  dream.  But  Noorna,  the 
wise  one,  hurriedly  closes  the  shell, 
shutting  her  betrothed  up  in  it,  so  pro- 
tecting him  from  evil.  For  as  he  de- 
scends into  that  unholy  place  — the 
belly  of  the  fish  — he  hears  "outside  the 
shell  a  rushing,  gurgling  noise,  and  a 
noise   as   of    shouting    multitudes   and 

123 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

muffled  multitudes,  muttering  com- 
plaints and  yells  and  querulous  cries." 
*T  was  the  echo  of  the  world  in  its 
sordidness,  the  babel-cry  of  its  battlings 
and  graspings  of  greed,  the  multitud- 
inous noise  of  life's  weary  whirl  of 
illusions,  "sound  and  fury  signifying 
nothing"  that  Shibli  Bagarag  heard  in 
the  belly  of  the  fish.  Well  for  him  that 
't  was  as  an  echo  he  heard  it,  that  not 
even  in  imagination  did  he  join  the 
sordid  scramble.  For  this  thanks  are 
due  to  Nooma  who  shut  him  up  in 
the  "pearly  shell"  of  his  noble  thought, 
sheltering  him  so  from  baseness.  A 
noble  thought  is  the  soul's  defensive 
armour;  encased  in  it  a  man  may  suffer 
bombardment  from  life's  pollutions  and 
take  no  stain.  "The  whole  armour  of 
God"— if  in  the  urgency  of  battle  you 
forget  its  details,  take  it  just  as  the 
"pearly  shell"  of  a  noble  thought.  Shut 
yourself  up  in  that  shell,  but  not  alone, 
for  an  academic  thought,  however 
noble,  is  poor  defence  against  the  Evil 
One.  Let  Nooma,  Duty,  be  with  you 
as  companion,  and  then  though  in  the 
belly  of  Karaz.,  you  are  safe  from  pol- 
lution.    This   Allegory  is  to   be  placed 

124 


ILLUSION 

alongside  that  of  the  Talking  Hawk,  as 
finely  illustrating  another  aspect  of  the 
saving  power  of  thought. 

But  further  danger,  from  which  es- 
cape is  not  so  speedy,  awaits  Shibli 
Bagarag  in  the  Enchanted  Sea.  It  is 
symbolised  by  his  sojourn  in  the  Realm 
of  Rabesqurat. 

In  descending  from  the  House  Beau- 
tiful to  the  Valley  of  Humiliation 
Christian  "caught  a  slip,"  and  in  con- 
sequence had  to  encounter  Apollyon  in 
the  valley.  Shibli  Bagarag  is  in  similar 
condition.  He  too  has  been  on  the 
heights,  had  vision  of  the  Ideal  —  to 
him  indeed  the  House  Beautiful  —  and 
now  in  getting  back  to  himself,  resum- 
ing the  prosaic  activities  of  life,  he 
too  catches  a  slip.  His  encounter  with 
Rabesqurat  is  at  once  the  consequence 
and  the  emblem  —  the  allegorical  pres- 
entation —  of  his  slip.  It  is  primarily 
a  slip  into  vain  anticipation.  In  place 
of  settling  down  to  the  task  of  realising 
his  ideal,  he  gives  way  to  day-dreams., 
indolent  anticipations  of  its  realisation. 
W^ere  it  merely  a  case  of  looking  hope- 
fully forward  to  the  time  when  Shagpat 
would  be  shaved,  no  fault  would  be  his. 

125 


THE    SWAY    OF   RABESQURAT 

But  it  is  more  than  that.  It  is  a  case 
of  dreamily  imagining  that  the  deed  is 
actually  done,  the  world  showering 
honours  on  him  the  doer.  Day-dreams 
are  romances  in  which  every  man  is 
his  own  hero;  and,  fittingly  enough, 
Shibli  Bagarag's  thoughts  seem  to  have 
been  on  the  glorious  condition  of  him- 
self, scarcely  at  all  on  the  happy  con- 
dition of  the  world  under  a  shaved 
Shagpat.  The  case  with  him  thus 
was  that  in  descending  from  the  House 
Beautiful  to  actual  life  he  breaks  his 
journey,  dwells  for  a  time  in  a  castle- 
in-the-air.  He  would  be  an  over-rigid 
moralist  who  altogether  condemned 
castles-in-the-air,  for  surely  these  fairy 
habitations  may  on  occasion  prove  san- 
itoria,  places  of  health  and  healing  for 
the  confined  and  overwrought  spirit. 
None  the  less  to  linger  long  in  them  is 
ever  to  run  great  risk.  In  Shibli  Baga- 
rag's case  the  risk  w^as  that  he  came 
near  losing  the  key  of  his  castle,  being 
imprisoned  there  for  life.  His  day  dream 
proved  terribly  persistent.  It  clung 
about  him,  held  him  in  such  sweet 
fetters,  that  he  could  scarcely  break 
away.     It  was   only   by   using   violence 

126 


ILLUSION 

on  himself  that  he  at  last  Bummoned 
strength  to  smash  the  enchanted  halls 
of  Rabesqurat,  and  make  his  escape. 

In  direct  line  of  the  story  Shibli 
Bagarag's  sojourn  in  the  realm  of 
Rabesqurat  thus  primarily  symbolises 
on  his  part  the  revelling  in  vain  antici- 
pation, dreaming  his  great  task  into 
completion  rather  than  working  to 
make  it  so.  But  to  stop  here  would  be 
to  give  the  Allegory  a  misleadingly  in- 
adequate interpretation.  As  general  de- 
scription of  man's  condition  of  soul 
under  indolent  dreams,  it  bears  a  mean- 
ing not  different  from,  but  wider,  more 
comprehensive  than  that  now  given. 
The  enervating,  will-weakening  effect 
of  day-dreams,  the  manner  in  which 
they  make  man  blunder  among,  mis- 
construe the  facts  of  life,  is  subtly 
portrayed.  By  the  pathway  of  vain 
anticipation  indeed  it  is  that  Shibli 
Bagarag  enters  the  realm  of  Rabes- 
qurat, but,  the  floodgates  of  folly  once 
open,  he  is  betrayed  unto  himself,  piti- 
lessly buffeted  by  his  own  weakness, 
so  losing  his  spiritual  treasure,  the 
Lily.  That  notable  loss  must  necess- 
arily be  considered,  but  since  to  follow 

127 


THE   SWAY    OF   RABESQURAT 

other  details  would  involve  a  lengthy 
study,  I  can  only  endeavour  suggest- 
ively to  cover  them  by  a  redescription, 
couched  in  sufficiently  general  terms, 
of  Shibli  Bagarag's  condition  of  soul. 

It  may  be  said  to  have  been  a  con- 
dition due  to  that  law  of  reaction  which 
affects  all  human  activity.  The  bow 
unbends.  The  native  indolence  of 
human  nature  asserts  itself.  Shibli 
Bagarag  was  weary.  That  passion  for 
reality  which  had  ennobled  him,  singled 
him  out  from  the  crowd,  was  for  the 
time  being  spent.  Why  probe  con- 
tinually beneath  appearances  .-*  Why 
neglect  the  present  good,  struggling 
after  far-off  ideals "?  Were  it  not  better 
to  take  life  as  it  is,  daintily  skimming 
the   surface   of  things  ? 

"Death  is  the  end  of  life  — ah!  why 
Should  life  all  labour  be? 

These,  be  it  noted,  were  not  questions 
deliberately  put  and  answered  by  Shibli 
Bagarag.  The  realm  of  Rabesqurat  is 
the  realm,  not  of  deliberation,  but  of 
drifting.  The  reformer  allowed  Noorna 
to  be  taken  from  him,  but  he  did  not 
himself  put  her  away.  There  was  no 
abandonment  of  his  ambition,  but  other 

128 


ILLUSION 

interests  —  life's  pleasures  and  relaxa- 
tions —  intervened  for  a  time  between 
him  and  it.  The  case  with  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  thus  merely  was  that  he  paused 
"wearied  in  the  greatness  of  his  way." 
The  pause  might  have  proved  fatal. 
The  rudder  of  his  will,  hitherto  inflex- 
ibly held,  being  let  go,  the  man  began 
to  dangerously  drift.  Indolence,  spir- 
itual lethargy,  a  sleepy  shrinking  from 
the  real,  an  unwillingness  to  shatter 
pleasant  dreams  —  that  constituted  his 
weakness  and  Rabesqurat's  strength. 
"He  assisted  in  beguiling  himself." 
"He  was  as  one  that  slideth  down  a 
hill  and  can  arrest  his  descent  with  a 
foot,  yet  faileth  that  free  will."  Real- 
ities were  unrelenting,  unflattering, 
thwack-bringing  ;  wearily,  petulantly 
he  thrust  them  aside.  Dreams  were 
soothing,  plastic,  tickling  to  vanity;  ah! 
let  his  soul  have  holiday  —  let  him  drift 
and  dream  and  be  at  ease.  The  great 
man  had  forgotten  his  greatness  ; 
Rabesqurat,  Queen  of  Illusions,  be- 
fooled him  for  a  time. 

Whom  has  not  the  terrible  Queen 
befooled?  Most  men  alas,  not  for  a 
time,    but    for    the     whole     unfruitful 

I2g 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

length  of  their  days  linger  idling  in 
her  realm,  slaves  of  illusion,  fatally 
yet  consentingly  befooled.  They  have 
spells,  all  of  them,  similar  in  kind,  if 
not  in  potency,  to  Shibli  Bagarag's  — 
spells  sufficient  at  least  to  free  them 
from  the  Queen's  worst  enchantments. 
But  though  man  is  strong  he  is  not 
master  of  his  strength.  Though  he  is 
wise  he  neglects  his  wisdom.  The  God 
in  him  sleeps.  Queen  Rabesqurat  has 
her  will.  From  delusion  unto  delusion 
mortal  man  is  tossed.  Verily  his  life 
is  a  "vain  show." 

Meredith's  aim,  in  this  part  of  the 
Allegory,  is  not  so  much  to  inform  us 
respecting  the  particular  temptations 
which  assailed  Shibli  Bagarag  as  to 
describe  the  condition  of  soul  which 
laid  him  open  to  temptation  at  all. 
Nature  abhors  a  vacuum,  but  Satan 
delights  in  one.  He  is  the  Lord  of 
Empty  Places.  Shibli  Bagarag  gave 
way  to  idleness,  let  his  mind  be  empty, 
and  at  once  Satan  was  at  him  with 
his  foul  magic,  befooling  him,  dozing 
him  with  illusions,  making  his  senses 
traitors  to  his  soul.  It  does  not  appear 
however     that     the     youth     abandoned 

130 


ILLUSION 

himself  even  in  thought  to  any  gross- 
ness.  For  this  no  thanks  to  his  self- 
control;  at  the  time  he  was  exercising 
none.  His  better  self  was  dozing  unto 
sleep,  but  happily  his  fair  heredity,  his 
wholesome  instincts  —  the  self  within 
the  self  — stood  his  good  angel  while 
he  slept,  guarding  him  from  baser  evils. 
It  was  at  the  worst  a  case  of  spiritual 
backsliding,  lapsing  into  worldliness  — 
worldly  mindedness  —  with  the  youth. 
Not  even  in  imagination  did  he  aban- 
don himself  to  grossness,  but  the 
shows,  the  vanities,  the  pomp  and  pride 
of  life  ensnared  his  heart.  'T  was  a 
condition  in  which  all  his  spells  were 
deteriorating  through  lack  of  use.  But 
the  noblest  is  ever  the  first  to  suffer, 
the  readiest  to  feel  the  blight  of  neg- 
lect. Hence  the  loss  of  the  Lily.  Lest 
my  former  interpretation  should  have 
lacked  in  explicitness  let  me  here  state, 
though  surely  it  is  sufficiently  evident, 
that  this  Lily,  the  Ideal,  is  more  than 
an  intellectual  concept,  more  than 
Shibli  Bagarag's  vision  of  what  ought 
to  be,  of  what  as  reformer  he  is  strug- 
gling to  achieve.  As  rooted  in  the  heart 
it  is  a  very  personal  matter.    Call  it  if 

131 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

you  like  ''the  white  flower  of  a  blame- 
less life,"  purity,  goodness,  spirituality 

—  no  one  name  fully  describes  it.  The 
light  granted  to  the  pure  in  heart  is 
what  the  Light  of  this  Lily  accurately 
is,  and  't  is  a  light  which  serves  a  man 
not  only  to  work  by  but  to  live  by,  at 
once  guiding  his  activities  and  shining 
in  upon  himself,  flooding  his  soul  with 
joy.  This  divinest  treasure  Shibli  Bag- 
arag   lost   as    Christian    lost   his    "Roll" 

—  with  which  by  the  way  it  may  be 
profitably  compared  —  because  of  his 
"sinful  sleep."  Were  man  awake  he 
could  keep  God  company  even  in  the 
realm  of  Rabesqurat;  were  he  alto- 
gether awake  indeed  it  would  be  no 
realm  of  Rabesqurat  for  him.  But 
something  less  than  that  is  desirable. 
It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  treat  Rabes- 
qurat guardedly  yet  complacently,  to 
keep,  while  passing  through  her  realm, 
defensive  grip  of  one's  spells,  but  not 
to  use  them  for  the  gratuitous  exposure 
of  the  Queen.  The  wise  man  knows 
Rabesqurat  to  be  illusion,  but  he  knows 
also  that  even  as  illusion  she  has  mean- 
ing and  value.  But  that  is  a  wisdom 
hard  to  attain  unto.     To  most  men  the 

132 


ILLUSION 

realm  of  Rabesqurat  is  the  realm  of 
sleep,  forgetfulness.  Whether  amid  the 
austerities  of  the  desert  or  the  gaieties 
of  the  city,  he  who  sleeps,  forgets  his 
better-self  —  his  spells  —  is  in  slavery  to 
Rabesqurat.  It  is  a  slavery  hard  to  be 
avoided.  So  terribly  does  the  outward 
fight  against  the  inward  that  to  yield 
oneself  even  for  a  little  to  the  shows 
and  witcheries  of  sense  is  to  be  in 
danger  of  that  loss  of  spiritual  vision 
which  is  slavery.  For  as  the  Teacher 
says: 

"Ye  that  the  inner  spirit's  sight 

would  seal 
Nought  credit  but  what  outward 

orbs  reveal." 
"  The  soul  of  Shibli  Bagarag  was 
blinded  by  Rabesqurat  in  the  depth  of 
the  Enchanted  Sea,"  hence  the  Ideal, 
which  is  the  seeing  of  the  soul,  was 
lost.  The  spiritual  in  him  suffered 
inanition  —  what  was  there  in  that  life 
of  indolence  and  vanity  to  feed  the 
spiritual?  Yet  though  Shibli  Bagarag 
was  rapidly  drifting  into  worldliness,, 
for  a  time,  so  treacherous  is  the  magic 
of  Rabesqurat,  he  did  not  know  it.  It 
was     however     misery,     remorse,    the 

133 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

"bosom  of  darkness"  with  him  when 
he  came  to  himself  and  found  the  Lily- 
gone.  The  magic  halls  of  Rabesqurat, 
erstwhile  flashing  brilliances,  were  to 
him  places  of  gloom,  their  lamps 
"swinging  lamps  without  light."  While 
that  "Master  light  of  all  our  seeing" 
remained  quenched  in  him,  no  other 
light  might  shine.  For  the  Ideal,  take 
it  in  what  sense  you  will,  if  the  enemy, 
is  yet  the  friend  of  the  Real.  If  it 
shows  up  the  defects  of  things,  it  is 
yet  that  which  gives  them  their  mean- 
ing and  value.  By  the  light  of  the  Lily 
Shibli  Bagarag  saw  all  that  was  actual 
blemish-marked;  without  the  light  of 
the  Lily  the  world  was  to  him  wholly 
a  place  of  darkness,  its  lamps  "swing- 
ing   lamps   without    light." 

When  vision  fails  do  not  stand  still, 
but  grope.  To  stand  still  is  to  consent 
to  darkness;  to  grope  is  to  petition  for 
light.  Had  Shibli  Bagarag  at  that  crisis 
in  his  career  stood  still,  paralysed  with 
despair,  he  would  have  been  lost.  But 
this  was  a  youth  that  never  throughout 
his  career  was  actually  imprisoned  in 
Doubting  Castle.  The  outward  trend 
of    his    activities,    his    happy    freedom 

134 


ILLUSION 

from  ultra  introspection,  saved  him 
from  that  danger.  The  moment  he 
came  to  himself  Shibli  Bagarag  — in 
this  the  type  of  true  repentance  — 
began  to  grope,  sadly  yet  hopefully, 
through  the  darkened  halls  of  Rabes- 
qurat,  using  —  it  was  all  he  could  do  — 
the  lower  to  guide  him  to  the  higher, 
the  Water  of  Paravid  to  guide  him  to 
the  Lily.  When  formerly  he  found 
the  Lily  it  brought  him  pure  joy,  but 
this  time,  because  of  his  backsliding, 
agony  mingled  with  the  joy.  To  get 
it  he  had  to  do  a  terrible  thing  — pluck 
the  heart  out  of  that  awesomely  lovely 
one,  the  silver-white,  radiance-spread- 
ing damsel.  I  shall  explain  briefly  what 
seems  to  be  the  primary  meaning  of 
this   piercingly   beautiful    Allegory. 

In  regard  to  sacred  things  it  cannot 
but  be  that  while  we  are  working  with 
them,  putting  them  to  practical  use, 
their  glory  is  partly  hidden  from  us. 
It  is  manifestly  well  that  this  should 
be  so,  for  were  tools  to  overawe  the 
hand  that  works  with  them,  they  would 
cease  to  be  tools.  Viewed  therefore 
as  touchstone  of  the  actual,  pattern  for 
remodelling   the   actual,   practical   spell 

135 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

of  any  sort,  the  Ideal  finds  its  modest 
but  fitting  emblem  in  the  Lily.  But 
should  man,  after  a  lapse  into  disloy- 
alty, make  painful  recovery  of  the  Ideal, 
it  takes  on  another  and  an  awesome 
symbolism.  No  mere  model  of  beauty, 
aesthetic  abstraction,  is  it  known  to  be 
then;  a  sentient  being  rather,  of  holi- 
ness and  anguish  unspeakable.  The 
man  feels  that  his  sin  has  gone  beyond 
himself,  reached  out  to  the  wounding, 
lacerating  the  heart  of  the  Holy  One. 
This  it  is  which  constitutes  the  mys- 
tery and  significance  of  sin,  this  in- 
stinctive feeling  on  the  part  of  the 
sinner  that  his  sin  has  gone  beyond 
himself,  struck  at  and  wounded  the 
heart  of  Infinite  Love.  The  conscious- 
ness of  his  wrongdoing  as  it  affected 
himself  was  to  Shibli  Bagarag  so  lost 
sight  of,  swallowed  up  in  this  larger, 
terribler  consciousness  that  his  heart's 
cry  was  the  cry  of  the  Psalmist  : 
"Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I  sinned, 
and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight."  How- 
ever it  be  with  man's  intellect,  his 
heart  cannot  become  vocal  without 
acknowledging  God.  Stir  his  heart  into 
prophecy  with  any  profound  emotion  — 

136 


ILLUSION 

provided  it  be  profound  it  matters  little 
what  the  emotion  —  and  the  prophecy 
is  of  God.  This  significant  fact  is  wit- 
nessed to  frequently  in  the  Allegory, 
nowhere  more  remarkably  than  in  the 
passage  now  explained. 

This  noble  Allegory  of  backsliding, 
repentance  and  restoration  ought  to 
receive  independent  study  from  the 
reader.  I  have  merely  given  its  primary 
meaning,  the  one  most  directly  in  line 
with  the  story,  but  so  rich  is  it  in  the 
magical  qualities  of  Allegory  that  fresh 
meanings  and  beauties  will  reveal 
themselves  to  every  competent  seeker. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  leave  the  realm 
of  Rabesqurat  without  making  acquaint- 
ance of  little  man  Abarak  "keeper 
of  the  Seventh  Pillar."  More  will 
afterwards  appear  of  the  Seventh 
Pillar,  but  take  it  meantime  merely  to 
represent  the  will.  Strength,  steadfast- 
ness of  will,  is  indeed  the  seventh,  the 
perfect  pillar  of  human  nature.  Abarak 
"keeper  of  the  Seventh  Pillar"  was  thus 
a  man  of  great  will  power,  and  in  that 
lay  his  strength.  Yet  his  limitations  in 
point  of  intellect  made  his  strength  of 
little  avail.     So  lacking  was  he  in  the 

137 
J 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

"seeing  eye  and  the  understanding 
heart"  that  he  lived  enmeshed  in  the 
toils  of  Rabesqurat,  certain  to  remain 
so  unless  some  nobler  spirit  helped 
him  to  freedom.  Shibli  Bagarag  does 
him  this  best  of  services.  He  opens 
his  eyes  to  the  hoUowness  of  the  life 
he  is  leading,  imparts  to  him  — by 
means  of  the  Lily  —  a  saving  glimpse 
of  nobler  things.  The  little  man,  rec- 
ognising in  the  youth  a  master  spirit, 
gives  himself  up  to  him  in  loyal  ser- 
vitude; and  in  such  servitude  finds  his 
true  life. 

Beautiful  was  the  relationship  thus 
established  between  these  two  "brothers 
in  adventure."  It  was  a  relationship 
based  on  exchange  of  spells,  mutual 
helpfulness  in  noble  things.  Abarak 
toiled  for,  because  he  could  not  see 
through  Rabesqurat;  Shibli  Bagarag 
toyed  with,  because  he  did  not  wish 
to  see  through  her.  Abarak  imparts 
to  Shibli  Bagarag  his  strength,  reso- 
luteness—lends him  his  Bar;  Shibli 
Bagarag  imparts  to  Abarak  his  in- 
sight, spiritual  vision  —  lends  him  his 
Lily;  and  so  leaning  on  each  other, 
the     twain     pass     on     to     achievement. 

138 


ILLUSION 

Some  things  there  may  be  that  a  wise 
man  will  not  lend  to  another,  but  his 
gpells  he  ought  always  to  lend.  He 
runs  no  risk  of  losing  them  in  the 
lending,  rather  they  come  back  to 
him  enriched.  God  has  placed  us  in 
society  in  order  to  establish  a  great 
Human  Stock  Exchange  —  spells  being 
the  stock  exchanged.  Happy  he  who 
transacts  much  business  in  this  Ex- 
change; there  is  service  in  it,  and  'tis 
a  service  "twice  blessed,  it  blesseth 
him   that  gives   and   him   that  takes." 


139 


VANITY 


IT  must  already  be  apparent  that 
the  different  regions  through  which 
Shibli  Bagarag  travelled  were  but 
different  aspects  of  one  region,  human 
life  viewed  from  different  points  of 
view.  Shagpatism  represents  life  in 
its  institutional  aspect,  full  of  errors, 
superstitions  and  wrongs.  The  Quest 
of  the  Spells  represents  life  in  its  as- 
piring and  disciplinary  aspect,  a  school 
wherein,  by  much  effort  and  hardship, 
man  may  learn  wisdom.  The  Realm  of 
Rabesqurat  represents  life  in  its  frivol- 
ous, pleasure-loving,  superficial  aspect. 
Aklis  —  the  region  to  which  Shibli 
Bagarag  now  comes  —  represents  life  in 
what  may  be  called  its  legal  aspect, 
using  that  word  not  in  its  institutional, 
but  in  its  cosmic  sense.  This  devil's 
lottery  of  existence,  this  chaotic  tossing 
and  tumbling  of  things  —  see  it  through 
the  eye  of  Aklis  and  all  is  order,  law, 

141 


THE    SWAY    OF   RABESQURAT 

government.  "No  aid  or  friendliness 
in  Aklis."  No  chance  or  injustice  in 
Aklis.  Here  the  Unseen  Powers  keep 
shop.  All  manner  of  merchandise,  suit- 
ing every  taste,  is  to  be  got  in  ex- 
change for  spells.  But  without  Spells, 
appointed  and  of  proportionate  value, 
nothing  is  to  be  got,  for  the  Unseen 
Powers  are  strict  merchantmen,  and  no 
dispensers    of   charity. 

Aklis  is  the  realm  not  of  efforts,  but 
of  results;  cursed  are  they  who  linger 
in  it.  At  no  time  can  a  man,  if  true 
to  his  manhood,  say  "I  have  done 
enough.  I  will  rest  on  my  laurels,  and 
take  my  reward."  Men  with  a  future  be- 
fore them  pass  through  Aklis,  claiming 
the  Sword,  the  Bar,  whatever  weapon 
their  spells  can  purchase.  Men  who 
have  outlived  their  ambition  and  are 
content  with  their  achievements  settle 
down  in  Aklis,  nestle  in  it,  make  it 
their  home.  They  are  under  a  curse  — 
these  last.  Past  achievements,  however 
great,  are  not  a  capital,  on  the  repu- 
tation of  which,  as  on  interest,  a  man 
can  live  honourably  idle-  To  cease  seek- 
ing great  things  is  to  cease  being  great. 

To     Shibli    Bagarag    Aklis    appeared 

142 


VANITY 

"a  strange,  dusky  land,  as  it  seemed  a 
valley,    on    one    side    of   which    was   a 

ragged  copper  sun  setting  low 

The  sky  was  a  brown  colour;  the  earth 
a  deeper  brown,  like  the  skins  of  tawny 
lions."  Sparkle,  brightness,  glint  of 
living  light  was  there  none  in  Aklis. 
The  description  is  significant.  Nothing 
in  life  is  so  disenchanting  as  its  results. 
The  spirit  of  hope,  which  is  the  spirit 
of  poetry,  lights  with  some  touch  of 
living  light  earth's  dreariest  realm  of 
effort;  but  over  the  realm  of  results 
there  broods  dullness,  the  prosaic  spirit. 
A  man  can  be  mocked  by  his  failures 
and  yet  keep  in  love  with  life,  but  woe 
to  him  who  is  mocked  by  his  successes. 
Happily  it  can  be  said  success  mocks 
no  man  until  he  attempts  to  rest  in  it; 
then  indeed  it  deservedly  mocks  him. 

It  is  generally  by  way  of  the  En- 
chanted Sea  of  anticipation  that  man 
enters  the  rich  but  sombre  realm  of 
results,  and  the  realm  suffers  unduly 
by  the  contrast.  Mayhap,  however, 
Shibli  Bagarag  carries  with  him  a  phial 
of  water  from  this  Enchanted  Sea,  and 
that  on  occasion  he  will  pour  drops 
from  it  on  the  sombre  things  of  Aklis, 

143 


THE   SWAY   OF   RABESQURAT 

causing  them,  not  indeed  to  speak,  but 
to  glisten,  dance  and  sing.  He  is  a 
likely  youth  to  have  such  a  phial  in 
his  possession.  But  for  the  present  he 
has  disported  himself  sufficiently  with 
enchantments;  'tis  good  that  for  a 
period  he  should  stand  clear  of  them, 
look  out  on  life  in  practical,  prosaic 
mood. 

Consider  his  experiences  in  this 
realm. 

Through  the  Palace  of  Aklis  —  the 
mart  of  the  world  — he  passes,  behold- 
ing, estimating  its  wealth  of  wares. 
Just  here  many  mighty  ones,  "brothers 
in  adventure"  have  closed  ignomin- 
iously  their  careers,  making  fool's 
barter  of  their  hard-won  spells.  The 
youth's  love  for  Noorna,  his  native 
cleanliness  of  spirit,  carry  him  un- 
smirched  through  life's  grosser  tempta- 
tions. Neither  avarice  nor  sensual 
pleasures  conquer  him.  Those  whom 
they  conquer,  Meredith,  with  fine  scorn, 
describes  as  monstrosities,  half-human, 
half-bestial  in  form,  not  passers  through 
but  wolfish,  swinish  settlers  in  Aklis. 
But  Shibli  Bagarag's  own  fall,  a  hurtful 
one,    awaits    him    in    the    Hall    of    the 

144 


VANITY 

Duping  Brides.  To  understand  its  nature 
be  it  said  that  by  this  time  he  has  at- 
tained unto  a  certain  measure  of  fame. 
It  is  known  that  he  has  the  three 
mighty  Spells,  and  that  in  consequence 
he  is  likely  to  come  to  great  things. 
Men  worship  the  rising  sun;  and  this 
youth,  famous  and  growing  in  fame, 
has  naturally  all  sorts  of  people  buzz- 
ing about  him,  flattering  him.  His  fall 
comes  through  their  flatteries,  or  rather 
through  that  vanity  in  him  to  which 
their  flatteries  make  appeal.  And 
here  note  the  prophetic  quality  of  day- 
dreams. In  the  realm  of  Rabesqurat  — 
imagination  —  Shibli  Bagarag's  dreams, 
foolish  though  they  were,  had  in  them 
no  taint  of  grossness.  They  were 
vanity-inspired  dreams,  revellings  in 
imaginary  fame.  His  actual  life  proved 
but  a  replica  of  his  dream-life.  The 
first  and  second  temptations  in  Aklis 
—  temptations  to  grossness  —  were  to 
him  scarcely  temptations  at  all.  But 
the  third  temptation,  as  making  appeal 
to  his  vanity,  proved  irresistible.  "Out 
of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life." 
The  day-dream  foreshadows  the  reality. 
The    case   with    Shibli    Bagarag   in    the 

145 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

Hall  of  the  Duping  Brides  thus  merely 
is  that  he  is  entangled  in  his  own  weak- 
ness. Sweet  to  him  is  this  novel  but 
long-looked  for  experience  of  popular 
applause,  yea  for  the  sweetness  of  it 
he  is  as  one  "in  the  midst  of  a  very 
rose-garden  of  young  beauties,  such  as 
the  Blest  behold  in  Paradise."  He  feels 
himself  one  of  nature's  kings,  exalted, 
crowned  with  fame;  for  a  crown,  and 
no  less,  is  what  these  Brides  —  symbol- 
ising by  their  beauty  and  blandishments 
the  sweetness  of  fame  —  seem  to  offer 
him.  But  the  youth  is  on  his  guard, 
or  tries  to  be.  Thrice  already  in  his 
experience  has  he  been  saluted  as  king, 
and  "till  now  it  was  a  beguilement,  all 
emptiness."  Therefore  though  his  "head 
itcheth  for  the  symbols  of  majesty"  he 
will  first  test  the  honesty  of  these 
Brides  by  his  two  hitherto  trustworthy 
tests  —  the  Water  of  Paravid  and  the 
Light  of  the  Lily.  They  blink,  water  in 
the  eyes  a  little,  but  — Duping  Brides 
though  they  are  —  stand  the  test  suffic- 
iently well.  Are  his  spells  at  fault  then 
at  last.^  Why  not.^  They  are  not  ob- 
jective things  — these  spells,  but  merely 
symbols    of   the   youth's   spiritual   con- 

146 


VANITY 

dition  —  his  clearness  of  vision,  purity 
of  heart;  hence  they  necessarily  find 
their  limit  in  contact  with  what  remains 
in  him  of  weakness,  especially  when, 
as  it  happens,  vanity  is  his  weakness. 
For  the  nature  of  vanity  is  that  while 
it  reveals  itself  to  all  the  world,  it  hides 
itself  from  its  own  possessor.  When  a 
man  is  vain  everybody  is  likely  to 
know  it  sooner  than  himself.  Shibli 
Bagarag  indeed  has  bruised  himself  too 
frequently  against  his  own  vanity  to 
be  altogether  ignorant  of  its  existence. 
But  his  knowledge,  as  being  neither 
humble  nor  watchful,  is  no  better  than 
ignorance.  He  is  one  to  admit  that  he 
is  vain,  and  to  smile  vainly  at  the  ad- 
mission. Therefore  it  is  that  his  spells 
prove  at  fault  here,  or  rather  —  putting 
it  more  correctly  —  that  he  proves  at 
fault  in  the  application  of  them.  He 
uses  them  to  test  the  innocence  of 
the  Brides'  blandishments,  whereas  he 
ought  to  have  used  them  to  test 
whether  he  could  with  impunity  stand 
their  blandishments.  The  Brides'  bland- 
ishments—as symbolising  popular  ap- 
plause—were not  insincere.  Crowds 
never  flatter.     There  is  always  sincerity 

147 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

in  the  applause  of  the  multitude. 
Shallow,  short-lived,  and  of  little 
worth  their  favor  may  be,  but  for  the 
moment  at  least  it  is  genuine.  In  that 
respect  the  Water  of  Paravid  did  not 
report  falsely.  On  the  larger  question 
as  to  the  value  of  fame  in  itself,  it 
could  scarcely  be  expected  to  report 
impartially.  Such  report  as  it  gives, 
that  is  to  say  such  reflections  on  the 
subject  as  Shibli  Bagarag  could  attain 
unto,  are  described  w^ith  large  poetic 
freedom  in  the  charming  snatches  of 
verse  which  the  Brides  are  made  to 
utter.  If  you  judge  from  these  snatches 
of  verse  that  the  impassioned  and  am- 
bitious youth  overestimates  the  joys  of 
fame  —  the  urgency  with  which  it  ought 
to  be  pursued;  judge  also  whether  in 
your  phlegmatic  wisdom  you  may  not 
as  likely  be  underestimating  them.  But 
indeed  Shibli  Bagarag  faces  the  whole 
question  conscientiously,  striving  to  be 
thorough  with  himself.  It  is  not  only 
the  Water  of  Paravid  but  the  Lily  — the 
moral  test  —  he  applies  to  the  Brides. 
Can  he  pursue  fame  without  damage 
to  his  better  self  —  take  joy  in  it  and 
yet  be  blameless  in  the  sight  of  God  .^ 

148 


VANITY 

Allowing    that    the    question    was    too 
personal   to   be   debated   altogether   im- 
partially,   that    some    measure    of    the 
inevitable    prejudice    in   favour    of   self 
must  have  broken  in  upon  his  deliber- 
ations, can  it  be  said  that  he  came  to 
a  wrong  conclusion  ?     Surely  it  is  not 
sin  to  take  pleasure  in  the  approval  of 
one's  fellows;    were  one  indeed  not  to 
do   so   would  it  not  but  argue   in  him 
the  lack  of  healthy  social  instincts  ?  To 
stoop    to    unworthiness   through    greed 
of  popularity  is  indeed  great  sin;    but 
when    fame    and   favour   come    in    the 
pursuit    of    duty   a    man    does    well    to 
rejoice  in  them,  to  count  them  among 
his  legitimate  rewards.  Shibli  Bagarag's 
decision  was  right.     The  Brides   stand 
the  test  of  the  Lily,  if  not  indeed  per- 
fectly, as  well  at  least  as  most  earthly 
pleasures.       For    all    that    they    proved 
but  Duping  Brides,  working  shame  and 
danger  to  Shibli  Bagarag.    See  now  the 
nature  of  their  Duping. 

The  desire  for  applause  acts  as  an 
incentive  ;  applause  itself  when  it 
comes,  tends  to  act  as  a  soporific. 
Shibli  Bagarag  drinks  at  the  cup  of  his 
own  fame,   and  the   potion   sends   him 

149 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

to  sleep.  His  better  self,  his  heroic 
self  is  sound  asleep,  but  to  be  sure  his 
vanity-tickled,  vain-glorious  self  is  de- 
lightedly awake.  Because  he  is  the 
man  of  the  hour  feted,  lionised,  wor- 
shipped of  the  multitude  —  he  jumps  to 
the  conclusion  that  his  dreams  of  great- 
ness have  come  true  at  last.  But  they 
have  not  come  true;  they  are  simply 
being  duplicated.  Shibli  Bagarag  is 
still  dreaming;  never  a  sillier,  more 
hurtful  dream  has  he  had  than  this. 
For,  and  this  is  the  Duping,  by  fancy- 
ing himself  great  he  is  cheating  him- 
self of  greatness.  No  longer  intent  on 
achieving  but  on  enjoying,  no  longer 
struggling  to  Master  an  Event,  but 
revelling  in  that  popularity  which  he 
imagines  is  the  proof  and  the  reward 
of  Mastery  — is  he  not  now  among 
those  base  ones  who  settle  down  in 
Aklis,  make  it  their  home.^  His  career 
is  at  a  standstill.  In  relation  to  his  life- 
mission  he  is  represented  in  the  Alle- 
gory—and note  the  truth  rather  than 
the  irony  of  the  symbolism  — as  a  be- 
numbed and  pathetic  figure,  sitting  on 
a  throne  from  which  he  could  not 
move.      Clearly    Shibli    Bagarag    is   not 

150 


VANITY 

strong  enough  to  stand  the  Brides' 
blandishments.  As  cheer,  encourage- 
ment in  his  work,  could  he  take  them 
so,  they  would  do  him  good  and  not 
harm.  But  he  cannot  take  them  so. 
The  breath  of  popular  applause  has 
fanned  his  vanity  into  a  mighty  flame, 
and  in  that  flame  his  whole  manhood 
threatens  to  be  consumed.  Alas  for  the 
erstwhile  strenuous  youth  that  his  head 
should  be  turned,  his  time  wasted  in 
this  silliest  fashion.  One's  first  loving 
wish  is  that  a  shower  of  lusty  thwacks., 
thwacks  of  the  old  stinging  quality, 
could  once  again  be  apportioned  him. 
But  what  good  would  they  be  likely 
to  do  ?  Vanity,  when  grown  great,  feeds 
and  flourishes  on  all  things.  If  applause 
is  what  fattens  it,  reproach  and  hisses 
are  what  strengthen  it,  give  it  muscle. 
Had  it  been  possible  for  the  world  to 
thwack  Shibli  Bagarag  into  humility, 
verily  by  this  time  he  had  been  humble. 
But  for  this  more  searching  thwacks 
than  the  world's  are  required,  and, 
praise  the  Disposer  of  Destinies!  the 
administering  of  them  at  last  begins. 
As  Shibli  Bagarag  sat  on  that  benumb- 
ing throne  "his  gaze  fell   on  a  mirror, 

151 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

and  he  beheld  the  crown  on  his  fore- 
head what  it  was,  bejewelled  asses'  ears, 
stiffened     upright,    and    the    skulls     of 
monkeys     grinning     with     gems.       The 
sight   of   that   crowning   his   head    con- 
vulsed    Shibli     Bagarag    with    laughter, 
and   as   he   laughed   his   seat   upon    the 
throne    was    loosened,    and   he   pitched 
from   it."     The   mirror  in   which   Shibli 
Bagarag     thus     saw    himself     was     the 
mirror  of  self-consciousness;  his  laugh- 
ter  the  bitter  laughter  of  self-criticism. 
Of    all    the    furniture     of    the     human 
spirit  count  this  mirror  among  the  most 
precious,  for  truly  its  qualities  of  won- 
der are  inexhaustible.    Morbidity  comes 
to  him  who  looks  at  it  too  much;  folly 
accumulates     on     him     who     looks     at 
it  too  little;   wisdom  would  be  his  who 
looked   at   it  aright.     It   is   a   mirror  to 
liberate     all     whom     it     makes     laugh. 
Laughter  is  the  emotion  of  reason,  the 
channel     by     which,     under    shock     of 
surprise,    reason    relieves    its    feelings. 
When  it  is  a  man's  self  that  gives  his 
reason    a    surprise,    the    pealing    of    his 
laughter    is    but    the    screaming    of    his 
self-love   under   the   lash.     Thwackings 
of   this   nature   bring   liberation    to    the 

152 


VANITY 

soul.  The  man  who  cannot  laugh  at 
himself  is  in  bondage  to  himself.  The 
man  who  cannot  see  over  his  own 
shoulder  will  never  grow  taller.  Self- 
criticism  is  the  chief  saving  grace  of 
life;  that  it  lose  not  this  dignity  see 
that  it  be  practised  in  no  pettifogging 
spirit.  A  morbid  martinet  of  a  con- 
science is  sore  company,  and  the  grace 
of  God  is  not  in  it.  A  wise  man  for- 
gives  himself   much. 

Shibli  Bagarag's  first  touch  of  hu- 
mility comes  through  the  teachings  of 
prosperity.  While  the  world  thwacked 
him  his  soul  hardened  itself  in  pride; 
now  that  it  smiles  on  him,  he  has  a 
saving  glimpse  of  his  own  unworthi- 
ness.  He,  forsooth,  fancying  himself 
one  of  nature's  kings,  laying  himself 
out  with  fine  air  of  majesty  to  collect 
the  homage  of  men!  The  dream  — 
'twas  the  silliest  of  dreams  —vanishes  in 
agonies  of  liberating  laughter.  Shibli 
Bagarag  is  again  merely  a  candidate^ 
be  sure  a  much  humbled  candidate  for 
greatness.  His  gain  from  his  folly,  his 
sinful  waste  of  time,  is  that  his  vanity 
has  at  last  made  him  appear  ridiculous 
in    his    own    eyes,    that   now    therefore 

153 

K 


THE    SWAY    OF    RABESQURAT 

for  the  first  time  he  sets  himself  against 
it,   knows   it  to  be  his  enemy. 

None  the  less  he  cannot  purge  his 
heart  of  vanity.  The  laughter  of  self- 
criticism  has  indeed  driven  him  to 
break  free,  for  the  time  being,  from  the 
entanglements  of  popular  applause,  but 
it  has  not  killed  in  him  the  craving  for 
applause.  He  resumes  the  strenuous 
lif e  —  gets  off  the  throne,  but  he  cannot 
eradicate  vanity  from  his  heart  —  re- 
move the  ass-eared  crown.  That  crown 
"stuck  to  him,  and  was  tenacious  of  its 
hold  as  a  lion  that  pounceth  upon  a 
victim."  The  prospect  is  alarming.  A 
reformer  must  indeed  be  sensitive  to 
public  opinion,  since  that  in  the  last 
issue  is  the  weapon  by  which  he  ac- 
complishes his  reform.  But  his  sensi- 
tivity must  be  of  an  impersonal  nature, 
no  touch  of  vanity  in  it.  Every  popular 
reformer  must  count  on,  be  prepared 
to  face  unpopularity.  But  here  is  Shibli 
Bagarag  setting  about  the  work  of 
reform  with  a  crown  of  "bejewelled 
asses'  ears,  stiffened  upright"  on  his 
head.  The  prospect  is  certainly  alarm- 
ing. In  spite  of  himself  he  will  be 
listening,    straining    these     asses'    ears 

154 


VANITY 

of  his  to  catch  this  man's  flatteries,, 
that  man's  abuse  —  delighted  by  the 
one,  irritated  by  the  other,  influenced 
by  all  — till  steadiness  and  the  cunning 
of  barbercraft  forsake  his  wrist.  If 
Shibli  Bagarag  cannot  get  rid  of  his 
crown,  he  had  better  put  down  his 
razor,  for  't  is  certain  he  will  make  a 
botch  of  the  shave.  But  patience,  for 
much  has  already  been  accomplished. 
The  youth  has  seen,  caught  one  saving 
glimpse  of  himself  in  the  mirror  of  self- 
consciousness,  and  the  result  already 
is  that  the  vain  one  is  up  in  arms 
against  his  own  vanity,  the  crowned 
one  tugging  indignantly  at  his  crown  in 
effort  to  tear  it  off.  To  man  in  this  con- 
dition God's  grace  is  ever  available. 


155 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 


PURGATION 


AKLIS,  as  being  the  realm  of  re- 
sults, necessarily  has  its  spiritual 
region,  for  results  may  be  spiritual 
as  well  as  material.  Few  men  directly 
seek  spiritual  results,  but  to  some 
extent  all  men  find  them,  for  the  by- 
products of  human  activity  continually 
tend  to  be  spiritual.  Yet  to  find  such 
results  in  soul  saving  measure  con- 
scious seeking  is  necessary.  Shibli 
Bagarag  does  well  therefore  in  that 
having  discovered  the  unsatisfying 
nature  of  the  world's  rewards,  its  plea- 
sures and  applause,  he  aspires  to  enter 
the  spiritual  region  of  Aklis,  in  search 
of   true   treasure. 

Spiritual  rewards  are  ultimate  rewards 
—  he  who  truly  finds  them  knows  them 
to  be  so.  None  the  less  to  settle  con- 
tentedly down,  make  one's  home  in 
even  this  region  of  Aklis,  is  capital 
offence.       Spirituality     divorced     from 

159 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

constant  aspiration  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms.  God  is  the  foe  of  finality.  The 
moment  a  man  thinks  he  has  attained 
the  goal,  he  is  cast  back  to  restart  the 
journey.  Spiritual  results  give  way 
under  the  man  who  would  rest  on 
them.  A  special  curse  therefore  is  on 
those  who  loiter,  think  to  settle  down 
in  this  region  of  Aklis.  It  is  the  region 
of  divine  discontent,  and  men  must 
enter  it  seeking  not  lodgment  and  Nir- 
vanic  ease,  but  the  Sword. 

Shibli  Bagarag  reached  this  spiritual 
region  by  crossing  an  Abyss  on  a 
bridge  of  Roc's  eggs.  Of  the  Roc, 
dread  inhabiter  of  the  Abyss,  we  are 
told  that  it  "threatened  mankind  with 
ruin,"  that  Aklis,  the  Father,  "subdued 
it  with  his  Sword"  and  that  a  stain  of 
its  "blood  is  yet  on  the  hilt  of  the 
Sword."  If  the  Abyss  be  taken  to 
represent  the  heart  of  man,  and  the  Roc 
to  represent  sin,  or  rather  that  evil  prin- 
ciple in  man  which  is  the  source  of 
sin,  the  Allegory  will  reveal  its  mean- 
ing, and  in  doing  so  link  itself,  not  for 
the  first  time,  distinctively  on  to  Christ- 
ian teaching.  Aklis,  the  Divine  One, 
subduing   the   Roc   of   the   Abyss  —  that 

1 60 


PURGATION 

"evil  heart  of  unbelief"— what  can  it 
symbolise,  if  indeed  it  has  any  definite 
symbolism,  but  the  redeeming  labours 
of  Christ,  recognition  that  "God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
himself"  ? 

On  this  interpretation  the  bridge  of 
Roc's  eggs  must  be  taken  to  represent 
sins.  Sins  are  the  only  eggs  that  evil 
bird  lays.  Notice  however  they  were 
empty  eggs  — mere  shells;  how  other- 
wise could  Shibli  Bagarag  have  passed 
through  them  to  the  Heavenly  Powers  ? 
A  full  egg  would  have  meant  a  living 
sin,  a  sin  indulged  in  and  unrenounced; 
one  such  would  have  been  barrier  in- 
deed. But  these  hollow  eggs  were  dead 
sins,  sins  Shibli  Bagarag  had  cast  or 
was  struggling  to  cast  behind  him. 
Therefore  since  "Men  may  rise  on 
stepping  stones  of  their  dead  selves  to 
higher  things,"  it  was  through  the 
empty  eggs  of  the  Roc  of  the  Abyss  — 
literally  his  dead  self —  that  Shibli  Bag- 
arag came  into  the  Presence.  As  a  de- 
scription of  the  nature  of  repentance,, 
the  method  of  moral  growth,  this  Al- 
legory grips  truth  closely  and  in  richly 
suggestive  fashion.     I  have  here  given 

i6i 


DOINGS   OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

merely  its  general  meaning;  it  will 
repay  those   who   study   it   in   detail. 

By  the  pathway  of  repentance  Shibli 
Bagarag  passes  into  the  presence  of  the 
Sons  of  Aklis,  the  Heavenly  Powers. 
As  symbolical  characters  these  Sons  of 
Aklis  must  be  taken  to  represent  God's 
dealings,  his  grace  and  government  in 
relation  to  men.  But  Meredith's  sym- 
bolical characters,  though  never  other 
than  symbolical,  are  yet  living  beings, 
pulsating  with  concrete  life,  playing 
their  part  in  story  as  well  as  allegory. 
Call  these  Sons  of  Aklis,  if  you  like, 
simply  the  Heavenly  Powers,  under- 
standing that  term  in  the  sense  now 
given. 

Shibli  Bagarag  enters  their  presence 
in  penitential  mood,  renouncing,  so  far 
as  in  him  lies,  all  sin.  Could  he  by 
mere  effort  of  will  cleanse  his  soul, 
surely  now  there  would  be  cleansing. 
But  in  the  remaking  of  a  man,  while 
everything  depends  on,  nothing  seems 
actually  done  by  the  will.  That  ass- 
eared  crown  —  grotesque  yet  truthful 
symbol  of  his  greed  of  flatteries  —  still 
sticks  to  Shibli  Bagarag's  head;  and 
neither  can  he  remove  it,  nor  while  it 

162 


PURGATION 

remains  can  he  hope  modestly  to  gov- 
ern the  ears  thereof  that  they  sniff  not 
in  applause,  tingle  with  the  joy  of  it. 
His  will  is  awakened,  it  is  strenuous, 
it  is  doing  all  that  will  can  do;  but  it 
cannot  reach  down  into  his  heart  to 
eradicate  therefrom  the  greed  of  flatter- 
ies. Yet  eradicated  the  greed  must  be;, 
not  only  because  in  practical  life  it 
would  inevitably  betray  him  into  much 
folly,  but  because  in  its  own  nature  it 
is  peculiarly  offensive  to  the  Heavenly 
Powers.  Vanity  vitiates  virtue.  Humility 
is  the  court-dress  of  Heaven;  virtues 
which  are  not  "clothed  in  humility" 
are  forbidden  the  presence  of  the  King. 
Shibli  Bagarag  in  a  sense  is  humble 
enough;  the  glimpse  he  caught  of  him- 
self in  the  mirror  of  self-consciousness 
has  sufficed  for  that.  But  when  a  vain 
man  puts  on  the  garment  of  humility, 
the  danger  is  that  he  will  take  to  ad- 
miring the  garment.  That  he  fall  not 
into  this  danger  —  become  proud  of  his 
humility  — let  the  youth  now  keep  very 
near  the  Heavenly  Powers.  In  them 
alone   lies  his  safety. 

The  Heavenly  Powers  do  not  intrude 
on    the    soul     of    man.       Even     when 

163 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

working  with  him  they  keep  their  hands 
off  him;  even  when  saving  him  they 
preserve  in  him  the  consciousness  that 
he  is  w^orking  out  his  own  salvation. 
Hence  the  Sons  of  AkHs  can  ,deUver 
ShibU  Bagarag  in  no  other  way  than  by 
subjecting  him  to  a  process  of  moral 
and  spiritual  discipline.  Let  it  not  be 
thought  that  the  method  of  their  dis- 
cipline—making the  youth,  as  crowned 
King  of  Apes,  bear  the  sickening  burden 
of  his  crown  —  is  out  of  place  here.  Like 
all  regions  of  the  Allegory,  this  exalted 
region  is  none  other  than  the  real 
world;  its  exaltation  consisting  in  its 
being  the  real  world  as  seen  by  the 
spiritual  man,  and  as  furthering  by  its 
disciplines  the  purification  of  spirit.  It 
is  not  always  fine  experiences  that  min- 
ister to  refinement.  To  acquire  a 
cleansing  disgust  at  filth  man  may 
sometimes  require  to  have  his  nose 
rubbed  in  it.  The  Heavenly  Powers 
are  not  dainty  in  their  methods  of  dis- 
cipline, would  not  need  to  be  when  it 
is  man  they  are  disciplining.  It  is 
no  incongruity  then  that  though  in 
their  presence  and  under  their  tuition, 
Shibli   Bagarag   should   have   sickening 

164 


PURGATION 

experiences  with  that  ignoble  rabble, 
the  crowd  of  men-apes.  Through  such 
experience  his  cleansing  is  to   come. 

As  mere  satire,  however  biting,  no 
objection  need  be  taken  to  the  rep- 
resentation of  human  beings  as  a 
rabble  of  apes,  their  affairs  comparable 
for  unimportance  to  the  meaningless 
squabbles  of  apes.  But  in  this  connec- 
tion it  is  not  mere  satire.  It  is  designed 
to  indicate  Shibli  Bagarag's  attitude 
towards  his  fellow  men,  the  attitude 
approved  of  by  the  Heavenly  Powers. 
None  the  less  it  must  be  pronounced 
a  wrong  attitude.  Contempt  is  a  lesson 
taught  not  in  God's  school  but  in 
Satan's.  To  despise  your  fellow-men 
is  to  prove  yourself  their  inferior.  It 
is  not  engaging  in  petty  affairs  that 
makes  you  petty.  It  is  standing  super- 
ciliously aloof  from  such  affairs,  or,  if 
engaging  in  them,  engaging  in  a  petty 
spirit,  that  makes  you  petty.  Still  in 
the  Allegory  matters  could  not  prop- 
erly have  been  represented  otherwise. 
The  representation  is  justified  by  its 
dramatic  truthfulness,  its  psychological 
inevitability.  Feelings  which  are  strong 
enough   to   have    cleansing    power   are 

165 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

never  altogether  well  balanced.  Man 
is  in  dominion  to  extremes,  works  out 
his  salvation  by  means  of  extremes.  As 
reaction  from  his  former  excessive  de- 
light in  the  buzzings  and  flatteries  of 
men  it  is  natural,  for  the  moment  right, 
that  Shibli  Bagarag  should  experience 
loathing.  As  to  the  naturalness  of  it 
there  can  be  no  question,  for  no  re- 
lationship that  can  exist  between  men 
is  so  prolific  in  the  seeds  of  ultimate 
contempt  as  the  relationship  of  flattery. 
Even  in  regard  to  the  honest  applause 
of  one's  fellows,  while  it  is  good  in 
the  mass  and  at  a  distance,  yet  some- 
how to  come  close  to  it,  reap  it  in 
detail,  is  ever  to  a  noble  spirit  ignominy 
and  weariness.  This  is  Shibli  Baga- 
rag's  experience.  As  popular  favourite, 
crowned  King  of  Apes,  he  is  made  to 
feel  the  burden  of  his  crown.  At  all 
sorts  of  gatherings  his  presence,  and 
on  all  sorts  of  matters  his  opinion,  is 
in  request.  Once  he  rejoiced  in  this 
popularity,  counted  it  greatness,  but 
now  that  his  ambition  is  rekindled,  that 
he  has  risen  from  his  benumbing 
throne,  he  counts  it  weariness,  sicken- 
ing waste  of  time.     Also  he  perceives, 

i66 


PURGATION 

since  coining  to  close  quarters  with 
them,  the  worthlessness  of  his  flatterers. 
They  praise  him,  but  do  n't  appreciate 
him;  hail  him  as  great,  and  would  yet 
drag  him  down,  have  him  prostitute  his 
talents  to  the  nothings  of  the  hour. 
Pah!  they  are  apes,  not  men;  his  gorge 
rises  at  them.  These  thoughts  and 
feelings,  nothing  else,  are  what  are 
symbolised  by  the  Gall  of  the  Roc^ 
through  touch  of  which  deliverance 
comes.  The  Gall  is  the  bitterness  of 
sin,  more  accurately  perhaps,  in  Shibli 
Bagarag's  case,  the  disgust  at  sin.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Allegory,  when  tasted, 
as  by  the  men-apes,  the  Gall  works 
evil;  when  merely  touched,  as  by  Shibli 
Bagarag,  it  works  good.  The  distinc- 
tion is  important.  It  is  good  to  know 
that  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death,"  but 
the  knowledge,  if  too  thorough,  itself 
means  death.  Man  may  sin  himself  out 
of  the  sweets  of  sin,  but  never  out  of 
the  love  of  sin.  To  drink  the  cup  of 
pleasure  to  the  dregs,  so  tasting  its  sedi- 
mentary bitterness  is  a  sure  way  to 
bring  about  not  repentance  but  pessim- 
ism in  its  most  unholy  form.  Creatures 
whom     Satan     has     thus     sucked     dry, 

167 


DOINGS   OF  THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

become  eager  impotences,  nests  of  un- 
holy memories.  Cynicism,  chief  among 
the  secondary  symptoms  of  this  unwor- 
thiest  pessimism,  settles  on  them.  They 
become  keen  but  unclean  critics  of 
life,  bubbling  over  with  Byronic  bitter- 
ness. But  poisons  when  rightly  applied 
have  generally  medicinal  virtues.  A 
taste  of  the  Gall  of  the  Roc  kills;  a 
touch  of  it  may  make  alive.  Notice, 
for  it  is  very  important,  that  in  Shibli 
Bagarag's  case  disgust  at  sin  was  the 
result  rather  than  the  inspirer  of  repent- 
ance. The  inward  reaction  had  com- 
menced, he  had  set  himself  against  the 
love  of,  before  he  acquired  the  distaste 
for  flatteries.  It  was  not  the  Gall  which 
brought  repentance;  it  was  repentance 
which  brought  the  Gall.  This  indeed 
is  how  most  accurately  to  distinguish 
between  the  touch  and  the  taste  of  the 
Gall.  When  man  by  repentance  in- 
vites the  Gall  to  come,  it  merely 
touches  him  to  the  cleansing  of  his 
soul.  But  when  it  comes  without  invi- 
tation, forces  itself  —  as  always  soon  or 
late  it  does  —  on  the  unwilling  and  un- 
repentant sinner,  the  sinner  is  made 
taste  it,  and  the  taste  is  death.     It  was 

i68 


PURGATION 

therefore  because  Shibli  Bagarag  wel- 
comed the  Gall,  commissioned  the  men- 
apes  to  bring  it  to  him,  that  at  its  touch 
the  ass-eared  crown  fell  from  his  head. 
He  thus  obtains  deliverance  from  his 
besetting  sin  of  vanity,  first  intellectually 
by  self-criticism  —  symbolised  by  his 
liberating  laughter  on  the  throne  ; 
second  spiritually  by  rooting  the  love 
of  flattery  from  his  heart  —  symbolised 
by  the  touch  of  the  Gall.  Otherwise 
put,  his  will  rises  in  arms  against  his 
vanity,  and,  for  such  is  the  operation  of 
of  grace,  the  heart  follows  the  will,  to 
the  rooting  out  of  vanity. 

The  feastings  and  festivities  of  Shibli 
Bagarag  with  the  Sons  of  Aklis,  in  par- 
ticular that  feasting  under  the  branches 
of  the  miraculous  fruit  tree,  clearly 
symbolise  the  spiritual  nourishments 
and  refreshments  which  came  from  his 
communion,  wrestling,  with  the  Heav- 
enly Powers.  Here  Shibli  Bagarag  is 
lifted  above  objective  experience.  God 
touches  him,  not  through  the  medium 
of  such  experience,  but  directly,  spirit 
with  spirit.  Man's  noblest  prerogative 
is  this  power  to  withdraw  himself  from 
the  world,  to  enter  as  free  spirit  into  the 

169 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

presence  chamber  of  the  Father  Spirit. 
It  is  thus  he  becomes  equipped  for  high 
enterprise.  The  human  spirit  is  nour- 
ished, kept  in  strength  and  cheer,  by 
the  Divine.  But  while  all  are  made  free 
of  the  common  bounty,  a  special  table, 
stored  with  royal  nutriment,  is  reserved 
for  the  seekers,  the  wrestlers,  who  as 
princes  prevail  with  God.  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  is  of  the  number.  He  sits  under 
the  branches  of  the  miraculous  fruit 
tree,   eating  the  fruit  thereof. 

By  these  disciplines  and  nourish- 
ments it  is  that  he  is  fortified  for  the 
demand  now  to  be  made  on  him,  even 
that  renunciation  which  is  the  price  of 
the  Sword.  His  surrender  of  the  Spells 
to  Gulrevez,  as  symbolising  the  con- 
summation of  his  long  training,  is  of 
special  importance.  Notice  these  points 
with  respect  to  Gulrevez.  F/r.s/ —  In  her 
form  of  Antelope  it  was  no  easy  task 
catching  her.  Much  pursuit  was  re- 
quired, "a  hawk  being  let  loose  to 
worry  and  distress  her  timid,  beaming 
eyes."  Second  —  She  was  the  one,  alone 
permitted,  to  hold  speech  with  Aklis, 
the  Father,  behind  the  Veil.  Third  — 
After    Shibli   Bagarag   had   surrendered 

170 


PURGATION 

the  Spells  to  her  she  resumed  her 
proper  shape,  which  was  that  of  a 
damsel  "a  vision  of  loveliness  with 
queenly  brows."  Truth  will  gleam  from 
these  statements  if  we  take  Gulrevez 
to  represent  that  spirit  of  self-renuij- 
ciation  to  which,  to  be  a  chosen  soldifer 
of  the  Lord,  Shibli  Bagarag  had  now  to 
attain.  That  is  a  spirit  which  comes  to 
no  man  naturally  and  without  effort. 
It  must,  like  Gulrevez,  be  hunted  after, 
captured  at  the  cost  of  struggle  and 
pain.  And  it  is  the  condition  of  soul 
necessary  for  communion  with  God. 
When  man  truly  prays,  it  is  the  Gul- 
revez in  him  that  prays.  None  but  she 
can  go  behind  the  Veil  to  speak  to 
Aklis.  And  as  for  the  change  of  form 
which  she  took  after  the  surrender  of 
the  Spells,  is  it  not  happily  true  that 
every  act  of  self-denial  appears  beauti- 
ful in  retrospect.?  The  resolution  ta 
perform  such  an  act  eludes  us,  flies. 
before  us  like  an  Antelope.  We  must 
use  violence,  worry  and  distress  our- 
selves, to  come  by  it.  But  once  the 
surrender  has  been  made,  our  soul  is 
aglow  with  the  sweetness  and  beauty 
of  it.    The  Antelope  becomes  a  damsel 

171 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

"a    vision    of    loveliness    with    queenly 
brows." 

Only  one  of  the  three  hairs  from  the 
tail  of  the  horse  Garraveen  was  Shibli 
Bagarag  called  on  to  surrender  to  Gul- 
revez.  Which  enthusiasm  did  that  lost 
hair  represent?  Not  surely  the  Musk- 
ball  enthusiasm,  for  the  natural  joy 
man  has  in  his  work  is  entirely  com- 
patible with  the  spirit  of  self-surrender. 
Genius  is  not  robbed  of  itself  when 
given  up  to  the  service  of  God.  Still 
less  could  it  have  been  the  Sign  of  the 
Crescent  enthusiasm,  for  that  as  being 
a  drudge's  enthusiasm  is  not  only  com- 
patible with  but  the  inevitable  concomi- 
tant of  self-surrender.  Gulrevez  would 
not  deprive  Shibli  Bagarag  of  that 
mighty  Hair,  rather  she  would  touch  it 
with  her  divine  fingers  as  it  circled  the 
w^rist  of  the  youth,  increasing  so  its 
potency,  endowing  it  with  gleams  of 
livelier  light.  The  Call  of  Battle  enthus- 
iasm, "the  sapphire  hair  that  conquered 
the  lion"  was  what  Shibli  Bagarag  had 
to  part  with.  It  could  have  been  no 
other,  need  not  even  have  been  this 
but  that  he  was  "tempted  by  the  third 
temptation   in   Aklis,   and   left   not   the 

172 


PURGATION 

Hall  in  triumph,  the  Hall  of  the  Duping 
Brides."  A  man  may  conceivably  be 
a  selfless  man,  entirely  surrendered  to 
God,  though  in  action  he  manifests 
that  heat  of  blood,  gaudium  certaminis, 
which  the  Call  of  Battle  enthusiasm  is. 
But  to  a  man  of  Shibli  Bagarag's  tem- 
perament the  thing  was  impossible.  The 
battle  fervour  would  be  certain  to  stir 
up  self-love,  set  flame  to  vanity  in  his 
heart.  Therefore  to  become  a  selfless 
man  his  selfhood  had  not  only  to  be 
surrendered,  it  had  to  be  emasculated. 
His  weakness  was  so  entwined  round 
his  strength  that  in  pulling  up  the  one 
the  other  had  to  suffer  damage.  To 
human  nature  in  its  progress  toward 
the  divine  it  must  often  happen  so.  Men 
under  discipline  of  the  spirit  cannot 
always  front  the  world  with  that  ap- 
pearance of  strength  which  belongs  to 
those  who  live  full-based  on  their 
natural  instincts.  They  are  in  the 
remaking  and  exhibit  some  of  that 
instability  inevitable  to  the  process. 
Surely  Shibli  Bagarag's  discipline 
under  the  Heavenly  Powers  was  a 
terrible  one  when  it  led  to  the  up- 
rooting, casting  from  him,  one  of  the 

173 


DOINGS   OF  THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

most    deeply    seated    instincts    of    his 
nature. 

Surrender  is  the  last  word  God  has 
to  say  to  man.  All  spiritual  training 
in  its  beginning  is  a  seeking,  in  its  com- 
pletion a  surrendering.  God  beggars  us 
to  enrich  us.  He  takes  our  all  that 
in  return  He  may  give  us  His  all.  There 
would  have  been  something  conspic- 
uously lacking  in  the  Allegory,  we 
would  have  missed  in  it  the  secret  of 
Christ,  had  Shibli  Bagarag's  strenuous 
seeking  not  been  made  to  end  in  sur- 
render. Is  it  not  partly  at  least  patent 
to  reason  that  surrender  is  the  neces- 
sary condition  of  strength  ?  A  man 
cannot  do  great  things  from  small  mot- 
ives. He  cannot  Master  an  Event  for 
the  personal  glory  of  the  achievement. 
If  he  thinks  to  fight  God's  battle  to 
advertise  his  own  prowess,  it  is  not 
God's  battle  he  is  fighting,  for  "Allah's 
the  cause  with  no  fleck  of  self  stained." 
Masters  of  Events,  saviours  of  the 
world,  have  necessarily  escaped  from 
cramping  and  betraying  personal  mot- 
ives. They  are  men  who  resolutely 
sacrifice  themselves,  and  who  hold  the 
Sword    at    the    price    of    sacrifice.      By 

174 


PURGATION 

finally  abandoned  self  -  seeking,  by 
sinking  himself  and  all  that  he  had 
in  his  cause,  Shibli  Bagarag  became 
a  mighty  and  a  consecrated  power. 
The  Sword  of  the  Lord  was  in  his 
hands. 


175 


1 


EQUIPMENT 


THE  Sword,  the  emblem  of  the 
power  by  which  Shibli  Bagarag 
is  to  accomplish  his  Reformation,, 
bears  two  meanings.  These  meanings, 
as  being  alike  legitimate,  would  be 
found,  on  full  analysis,  to  largely  re- 
solve themselves  into  each  other.  Still 
they  are  sufficiently  distinct  to  call  for 
separate  notice. 

Two  factors,  the  personal  and  the 
impersonal,  go  to  the  making  of  every 
achievement.  The  Master  of  the  Event 
and  the  Spirit  of  the  Age  alike  contri- 
bute a  share.  No  man,  however  quali- 
fied by  spells,  can  be  a  reformer  unless 
he  finds  ready  to  his  hands  social  forces 
which  make  for  reform.  Had  Luther 
been  born  a  century  earlier  he  could 
never  have  succeeded  in  breaking  the 
power  of  Rome  —  the  Sword  for  the 
Mastery  of  that  Event  not  having  then 
been   sharpened.     The   Sword   may   be 

177 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

taken  to  represent  the  impersonal  factor 
in  man's  work,  that  which  he  gets  given 
him  by  his  time.  The  Sons  of  Aklis., 
sharpeners  of  the  Sword,  would  thus 
personify  the  Time-Spirit,  the  sum  total 
of  those  forces  w^hich  are  ever  at  work 
in  society  ripening  things  for  change. 
Yet  since  God  achieves  his  purpose 
through  the  Time-Spirit,  the  Sons  of 
Aklis  cease  not,  even  in  this  connec- 
tion to  be  the  Heavenly  Powers  — per- 
sonifications of  the  Providence  of  God 
in  relation  to  men.  The  Allegory  is 
entirely  catholic.  The  reformer  needs 
to  have  given  him  his  weapons;  so  does 
the  scientist,  the  artist,  the  worker  of 
every  kind.  Suitable  materials  and  con- 
ditions must  be  supplied  by  the  Time- 
Spirit;  otherwise,  no  matter  for  his 
spells,  man  can  accomplish  but  little. 
The  Sw^ord,  the  emblem  of  destruc- 
tion, is  especially  apt  as  a  description 
of  the  reformer's  tools.  His  work  is 
to  build  up  indeed,  but  it  is  firstly  and 
chiefly  to  cut  down.  Something  else 
v/ould  doubtless  have  to  be  substituted 
for  Shagpatism,  but  meantime  the 
matter  in  hand  was  destruction.  The 
world    is    saved    by    change.      A    noble 

178 


EQUIPMENT 

inconsistency  runs  through  the  ages. 
Men  serve  God  to-day  by  building; 
they  serve  him  to-morrow  by  demolish- 
ing what  is  built.  Nature  is  ever  at 
war.  Her  peace  is  but  the  antagonising 
of  equal  forces.  Her  stillness  is  but 
the  stillness  of  sense-baffling  motion. 
The  world  is  saved  by  change,  and 
Shagpat's  hour  has  come.  He  has  out- 
lived his  usefulness;  is  now  indeed  a 
mere  corruption,  a  dead  thing  and  the 
spreader  of  death.  Expeditious  burial 
is  what  he  requires;  but  the  world's 
Shagpats  can  never  have  expeditious 
burial  owing  to  the  vested  interest  cer- 
tain people  have  in  their  corpse.  Shag- 
pat  cannot  even  be  granted  a  death- 
certificate;  the  Lords  of  Vested  Inte- 
rest—honourable hoaxers  all— swearing 
on  soul  and  conscience  that  he  is  still 
alive,  serving  his  day  and  generation 
nobly  as  ever.  But  God  gets  weary 
of  lies.  This  dead  thing —  fronting  the 
living,  feigning  the  wholesome  offices 
of  life  — has  to  be  removed.  Perhaps 
had  he  consented  in  time  to  moderate 
reform,  say  to  that  friendly,  conserva- 
tive shave  Shibli  Bagarag  once  pro- 
posed for  him,  his  day  of  grace  might 

179 


DOINGS   OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

not  yet  be  over.  But  Shagpat  scorned 
the  art  of  timely  concession,  no  hair  in 
all  his  head  would  Shagpat  consent  to 
part  with.  There  he  stands,  fronting 
the  light  of  day,  an  overgrown  evil,  a 
tangled  wilderness  of  hairiness  —  un- 
taught, unteachable,  sublime  in  stupid- 
ity! His  day  of  grace  is  past.  No  friendly, 
conservative  shave  for  Shagpat  now.  It 
is  the  Sword  of  Aklis  Shibli  Bagarag 
carries. 

Transcendental  wisdom  proclaims 
Pre-established  Harmony,  clockwork 
Providence,  the  moment  bringing  the 
man.  But  is  there  ever  a  time  when 
God  is  not  urgently  advertising  for  a 
man  to  "rid  the  world  of  nuisances," 
constant  employment  and  good  wages 
—  mainly  in  thwacks  —  being  guaran- 
teed? Suitable  candidates  may  come 
too  late,  but  not  surely  too  soon.  For 
were  a  Shibli  Bagarag  to  present  him- 
self in  Aklis,  demanding  the  Sword 
before  it  was  sharpened,  he  would 
simply  be  set  to  sharpen  it  —  very  hon- 
ourable employment  indeed.  True,  in 
that  case  he  would  not  be  the  Master 
of  an  Event,  but  merely  the  forerunner; 
but  some  of  the  world's  best  men  have 

1 80 


EQUIPMENT 

been  such.  Peace  notwithstanding  to 
Pre-established  Harmony  and  all  trans- 
cendental wisdom.  Destiny  keeps  trust 
with  Shibli  Bagarag  in  most  honourable 
fashion.  The  Sword  is  ready,  and  into 
no  hands  but  his  can  it  be  given.  Every 
great  movement  tends  to  focus  itself 
in,  and  to  accomplish  itself  through  one 
individual.  The  history  of  the  world  is 
the  history  of  its  great  men.  Fate  in- 
deed uses  the  many  to  put  might  and 
keenness  into  the  blade,  but  when  it  is 
fit  for  service  she  entrusts  it  into  the 
hands   of  one. 

This  last  thought  suggests  the  other 
meaning  of  the  Sword.  Though  coming 
second  in  point  of  exposition,  it  must 
be  considered  the  primary  meaning,  the 
one  Meredith  had  mainly  though  not 
exclusively  in  view.  I  will  state  it 
briefly. 

Where  there  is  no  reformer,  ripeness 
for  reform  passes  into  rottenness,  death 
itself  thus  becoming  reformer.  For 
though  in  the  spirit  of  man  there  is 
inexhaustible  recuperative  power,  it  is 
a  power  which,  speaking  of  men  in  the 
mass,  seems  incapable  of  awakening 
into  spontaneous  activity.    Though  the 

i8i 


DOINGS   OF   THE  SONS   OF  AKLIS 

world  is  never  past  mending,  it  is  yet 
never  able  to  mend  itself.  A  physician, 
a  reformer  is  required.  God  deals  in 
go-betweens.  He  speaks  to  one  man, 
and  through  that  one  man  to  the  age. 
The  place  of  a  leader  —  a  true  leader  — 
is  thus  supremely  great.  In  regard  only 
to  official  Kingship  is  the  Divine  Right 
of  Kings  an  exploded  doctrine.  Of  that 
other  Kingship  which  resides  not  in 
office  but  in  personality  it  is  an  eter- 
nally true  doctrine.  Men  of  richly  com- 
manding personality  breathe  out  upon 
their  age  the  greatness  of  their  own 
spirit.  Their  power  is  not  something 
they  derive  from,  but  something  they 
impart  to,  the  world.  In  themselves, 
the  daemonic  resources  of  their  own 
nature,  resides  their  power.  Such  men 
—  the  world  has  had  many  of  them — 
are  themselves  to  be  called  Swords.  In 
most  cases  Sword  is  the  word  which 
literally  describes  them.  Great  epochs 
of  history  are  marked,  made  rather,  by 
the  apparition  of  colossal  men  — storm- 
centres,  fountains  of  battle  — whose 
destiny  for  good  or  evil  it  is  never  to 
enjoy  peace,  never  while  they  live  to 
let    the    world    enjoy    it.       Like    living 

182 


EQUIPMENT 

Swords  they  flash  continual  war,  and 
truly  their  swords  are  miraculous  weap- 
ons, drawn  from  the  armoury  of  their 
own  spirits.  It  is  not  only  or  chiefly 
of  professional  soldiers,  men  like  Napo- 
leon, that  this  is  true,  for  indeed  of 
quite  another  class  of  men  it  is  far 
more  profoundly  true.  Not  they  who 
deal  in  gunpowder,  but  they  who  deal 
in  ideas  are  the  real  storm-centres  of 
the  world.  Ideas  alone  are  mighty;  in 
them  lie  the  dynamite  to  destroy  and 
the  power  to  recreate  the  things  of 
men.  Hence  it  was  that  the  Prince  of 
Peace  could  declare  that  he  came  "not 
to  send  peace  but  a  sword."  And  truly 
a  sword  he  did  send.  Napoleon's 
sword  perished  and  sunk  to  quiet  rest 
with  himself,  but  the  Sword  of  Christ 
is  still  at  its  mighty  work,  passing  from 
hand  to  hand  and  from  age  to  age,  and 
no  man  can  say  unto  it  "Peace,  be  still." 
Not  by  the  world,  nor  of  the  things  of 
the  world,  are  swords  of  this  temper 
fashioned.  "From  worlds  not  quick- 
ened by  the  sun,"  even  from  that  region 
where  men  commune  with  the  Sons  of 
Aklis,  and  make  surrender  to  Gulrevez, 
do  such  swords  come.     God's  Swords 

183 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS   OF  AKLIS 

are  men,  spirits  breathed  upon  by  His 
Spirit.  They  come  forth  armed  with 
His  inspirations,  bringing  with  them 
new  ideas,  new  hopes,  new  outlooks 
for  men;  imparting  to  them  some 
energy  of  life,  outbreathing  of  creative 
force,  for  the  rebirth  of  the  world. 
This  was  the  case  with  Shibli  Bagarag. 
His  Sword  was  himself  — what  else 
could  it  have  been?  Man  is  his  own 
treasure  house.  The  Kingdom  of  God, 
all  resources  of  abiding  wealth  and 
strength,  are  within  him.  He  must  be- 
come what  he  would  get,  so  only  can 
he  truly  get.  None  the  less  blame  not 
man  that  his  energies  are  mainly  di- 
rected outward,  for  it  is  so  that,  in 
terms  of  his  nature,  he  comes  into  pos- 
session of  the  inward.  God  traps  man 
into  nobility,  lets  him  like  Saul  go  far 
afield  in  search  of  asses,  that  in  the 
height  of  the  search  he  may  burst  upon 
him  with  the  vision  of  a  kingdom.  All 
earnest  seekers  are  in  the  way  of  grace; 
the  idlers,  the  dilettanti  only  miss  life's 
lesson  and  life's  blessing.  But  notice 
again,  for  it  is  all  important,  how  it  was 
that  Shibli  Bagarag  became  the  Sword. 
It  was  not  purely  in  virtue  of  his  Spells 

184 


EQUIPMENT 

—  his  splendid  moral  and  intellectual 
qualities.  These  necessarily  counted 
for  much,  gave  him  no  small  influence 
over  his  fellows.  But  something  was 
required  to  convert  Shibli  Bagarag,  the 
Spell-bearer  into  that  immeasurably 
mightier  being,  Shibli  Bagarag  the 
Sword-bearer.  It  was  renunciation. 
Renunciation  wrought  in  him  the  div- 
inest,  mightiest  of  miracles.  At  touch 
of  it  the  man  arose  transfigured,  no 
longer  merely  a  much-talented  man, 
but  a  living  Sword,  of  keenness  to  ex- 
ecute the  purposes  of  the  Lord.  The 
world  possesses  no  truer,  mightier  Alle- 
gory than  this. 

Everything  in  connection  with  the 
Sword  and  the  getting  thereof  is  sig- 
nificant, but  I  need  refer  only  to  these 
further  points. 

Shibli  Bagarag  had  to  face  a  mighty 
lion,  thrust  his  hand  into  a  fiery  fur- 
nace, before  he  was  permitted  to  grasp 
the  Sword.  The  Sword  itself  was  a 
thing  of  terror;  its  hilt  "two  large  live 
serpents,"  venomous  ones,  promising 
death  to  him  who  grasped  it.  Also  it 
was  so  large,  "full  a  mile  long,"  it 
seamed    madness    for    man    to    attempt 

185 

M 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

to  move  it.  Shibli  Bagarag  was  thus 
involved  in  destructions  and  sheer  im- 
possibilities. He  saw  no  way  out  of 
them,  nor  — and  this  is  the  point  — did 
he  ask  to  see  any.  He  simply  dared. 
Always  he  thought  to  go  forward 
meant  destruction,  and  always  he  "con- 
cealed his  thought"  and  went  forward. 
Always  he  thought  the  thing  he  had 
to  do  was  impossible,  and  always  he 
"concealed  his  thought"  and  did  it.  The 
teaching  is  excellent.  No  man  will  go 
far  who  puts  his  foot  no  further  for- 
ward than  he  sees  his  way  to  draw  it 
back.  He  must  count  on  no  drawing 
back,  make  no  provision  for  drawing 
back,  only  so  can  he  go  truly  forward. 
Certainly  if  he  aspires  to  power  — to 
wield  the  Sword  of  Aklis  —  he  must 
dare  and  dare  and  evermore  dare,  for 
the  moment  he  falters  the  Sword  will 
fall  from  his  grasp.  This  is  not  to  be 
counted  recklessness.  Recklessness  is 
that  which  is  opposed  to  caution,  but 
daring  is  that  which  is  above  caution. 
Daring  is  a  great  virtue,  but  only  so 
when  exercised  on  great  matters;  on 
other  matters  the  virtue  of  caution  is 
better.     When,   at   the   bidding   of   Gul- 

i86 


EQUIPMENT 

revez,  man  acts  in  disregard  of  conse- 
quences, it  is  daring;  but  at  other  bidd- 
ing, it  is  recklessness.  Hence  we  are 
told  that  when  Shibli  Bagarag  feared 
to  thrust  his  hand  into  the  furnace  at 
the  command  of  the  Sons  of  Aklis,  it 
was  Gulrevez  who  whispered  in  his  ear 
"Do  their  bidding  and  be  not  backward. 
In  Aklis  fear  is  ruin  and  hesitation  a 
destroyer." 

As  has  been  said  the  beauty  of 
Gulrevez  signifies  the  sweetness,  the 
subtle  delight  which  self-renunciation 
brings.  To  luxuriate  in  that  sweet- 
ness, linger  in  self-gratulation  over  the 
thought  of  one's  own  nobility,  is  to 
gaze  transfixed  at  the  beauty  of  Gul- 
revez. This  was  Shibli  Bagarag's  con- 
dition, for  which  Gulrevez  sharply  re- 
buked him.  "Hast  thou  nought  for  the 
Sword  but  to  gaze  before  thee  in  silli- 
ness  Shame    on    thee."     Shibli 

Bagarag  was  here  suffering  under  what 
Meredith  in  his  "Farina"  described  as 
"the  back-blows  of  Sathanas."  To  do 
a  good  deed  and  then  admire  yourself 
for  doing  it,  an  act  of  self-denial  and 
then  luxuriate  in  its  sweets,  is  to  be 
transfixed  with  the  beauty  of  Gulrevez, 

187 


DOINGS   OF  THE  SONS   OF  AKLIS 

suffering  so  one  of  the  deadliest 
"back-blows  of  Sathanas."  It  is  thus 
that  great  deeds  of  virtue  bring  great 
danger  to  the  soul.  Satan  reaps  a  fine 
harvest  by  following  at  the  heels  of 
men  who  commit  noble  actions,  trip- 
ping them  by  their  nobility.  There  are 
times  when  it  is  unlucky  for  a  man  to 
look  at  himself.  As  a  bride  avoids  her 
mirror  when  robed  in  bridal  attire,  so 
ought  man  when  robed  in  attire  of 
hero;  otherwise  he  w^ill  see  and  become 
enamoured  of  the  Gulrevez  within  him- 
self. This  Allegory  is  to  be  compared 
with  that  of  Goorelka  offering  Shibli 
Bagarag  the  dew  of  the  Lily  to  drink. 

After  the  Sw^ord  there  w^as  given 
Shibli  Bagarag,  as  complementary 
equipment,  the  bird  Koorookh.  The 
signification  of  the  bird  is  discovered 
by  consideration  of  its  origin.  It  came 
by  the  stirring  of  a  fountain  with  the 
Sword.  The  fountain  had  but  "the  top 
spray  of  it  touched  with  a  beam  of  light 
and  the  air  breathed  of  man,"  yet  when 
Shibli  Bagarag  stirred  it  with  the  Sword 
"the  whole  body  of  it  took  a  leap  to- 
wards the  light  that  was  like  the  shoot 
of  a  long  lane  of  silver  in  the  moon's 

1 88 


EQUIPMENT     ' 

rays,  and  lo,  in  its  place  the  ruffled 
feathers  of  a  bird."  Take  the  fountain 
to  represent  Shibli  Bagarag's  heart,  his 
inner  self.  The  stirring  of  it  with  the 
Sword,  its  consequent  ''leap  towards 
the  light"  would  then  simply  mean  that 
ferment,  exaltation  of  spirit,  which 
came  of  his  new-bom  consciousness  of 
power.  No  man  on  whom  dawns  the 
knowledge  that  he  is  a  man  apart, 
equipped  for  some  great  destiny,  but 
must  be  profoundly  affected,  greatly 
elevated  by  the  knowledge.  His  heart, 
stirred  by  the  Sword,  takes  a  "leap  to- 
wards the  light."  No  name  that  can  be 
given  to  Koorookh  altogether  brings 
out  its  meaning,  but  if  name  of  some 
sort  is  required,  call  it  Faith.  The 
service  it  rendered  was  to  support 
Shibli  Bagarag  on  its  wings,  and  is  not 
faith  an  exaltation,  a  winged  support 
to  the  Spirit  of  man?  Mounted  on 
Koorookh  the  youth  in  the  exuberance 
of  his  gladness  waved  the  Sword,  and 
lo  "the  sun  lost  that  dullness  on  its 
disk  and  took  a  bright  flame,  and  threw 
golden  arrows  everywhere;  and  the 
pastures  were  green,  the  streams  clear, 
the   sands   sparkling."     In   the   light   of 

i8g 


DOINGS   OF  THE  SONS   OF  AKLIS 

his  own  joy  everything  smiled.  It  was 
an  experience  that  could  not  last,  but 
could  never  be  effaced.  The  man  has 
had  his  revelation  of  life's  radiant  pos- 
sibilities, and  the  memory  of  it  will 
live  with  him  in  his  hours  of  gloom. 
The  bird  Koorookh  survives  the  exalt- 
ation of  spirit  in  v/hich  it  is  born, 
abides  with  the  man,  doing  him  service. 
The  Sons  of  Aklis,  sharpeners  of  the 
Sword,  have  at  last  done  their  work 
with  Shibli  Bagarag.  They  were  girding 
him  while  as  yet  he  knew  them  not. 
His  thwackings,  his  hungers  and  hard- 
ships were  of  them,  so  also  his  striv- 
ings and  strayings,  victories  and  fail- 
ures. By  things  outward  and  inward,, 
life's  happenings  and  the  siftings  and 
disciplines  of  spirit,  they  were  working 
on  him,  sharpening  him.  Sore  has  it 
been  on  Shibli  Bagarag,  this  sharpen- 
ing; surely  now  he  may  have  breathing 
time  to  take  joy  in  its  results.  'T  is 
no  base  region,  but  an  exalted  and  hon- 
ourable region  of  Aklis  he  is  in.  In 
the  high  fellowship  of  these  the  Sons 
of  Aklis,  and  in  that  of  Gulrevez,  the 
Divine  One,  may  he  not  linger  blame- 
lessly.^   And   this   Sword,   gotten   at  so 

190 


EQUIPMENT 

great  price,  what  glory,  what  delectation 
of  spirit  it  brings!  Heaven  and  earth 
laugh  in  the  miracle  of  its  light.  Surely 
he  may  bide  a  little  in  this  honourable 
region  of  Aklis,  waving  the  Sword,  so 
making  celestial  holiday.  But  no,  the 
Sons  of  Aklis  and  Gulrevez  forbid.  "To 
work  with  the  Sword"  is  their  stern,  im- 
patient command.  As  the  candlestick 
carries  light  not  for  its  own  good,  but 
for  the  good  of  the  household,  so  is 
it  with  Shibli  Bagarag  and  his  Sword. 
If  he  holds  it  as  a  private  possession 
the  two  poisonous  serpents  which  are 
its  hilt  will  fasten  on  his  hand,  biting  it. 


191 


TEMPTATION 


EVERY  condition  of  soul  carries  in 
itself  its  own  danger.  Man  is 
never  so  high  that  Satan  cannot 
get  at  him  to  tempt  him.  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  as  bearer  of  the  Sword  endures 
two  temptations;  the  first  arising  from 
an  interplay  between  his  strength  and 
his  weakness,  the  second  arising  from 
his  strength  only.  The  second  is  im- 
measurably the  more  dangerous.  A  man 
needs  the  consciousness  of  weakness 
to  protect  him  from  his  own  strength. 
He  who  knows  himself  to  be  at  once 
weak  and  strong  is  merely  on  the  eve 
of  a  temptation:  he  who  knows  him- 
self wholly  strong  is  on  the  eve  of  a 
fall.  Consider  first  that  temptation 
which  came  to  Shibli  Bagarag  from 
interplay  between  his  strength  and 
weakness.  It  is  represented  in  the  Alle- 
gory by  Noorna  and  her  dangers  as 
seen  through  the  eye  of  Aklis. 

193 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

Until  he  got  the  Sword  the  idea  of 
shaving  Shagpat  could  remain  only  a 
fixed  but  unrealisable  idea  in  Shibli 
Bagarag's  mind.  The  pivot  idea  it  was 
round  which  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously his  life  moved,  yet  none  the 
less  it  lay  shut  up  in  himself,  could 
not  be  put  into  operation.  That  is 
symbolised  by  Noorna  imprisoned  on 
the  Pillar,  waiting  for  the  liberating 
Sword.  This  Pillar,  as  was  formerly 
explained,  must  be  taken  to  represent 
the  will.  Every  scheme  of  ambition 
which  a  man  cherishes,  but  which, 
through  lack  of  power,  he  cannot  mean- 
time put  into  execution,  is  a  Noorna 
imprisoned  in  the  Pillar  waiting  for  the 
liberating  Sword.  Too  often  Noorna 
waits  in  vain,  is  left  neglected  to  fall 
a  prey  to  Karaz,  the  fish.  The  ambition 
which  a  man  cannot  directly  work  at, 
he  must  at  least  work  up  to,  otherwise 
it  w^ill  cease  to  be  his  ambition,  fall 
quite  off  the  Pillar  of  his  will  into  the 
jaws  of  that  Evil  One  who  feeds  on 
deserted  Noornas.  With  Shibli  Bagarag 
in  this  respect  all  is  w^ell.  So  stren- 
uously has  he  worked  up  to  his  ambi- 
tion  that  the   Sword  for   its   realisation 

194 


TEMPTATION 

is  now  in  his  grasp.  At  last  therefore 
the  time  has  come  for  Noorna's  liber- 
ation, for  that  long  cherished  idea  of 
shaving  Shagpat  to  be  put  into  exe- 
cution. Noorna  is  actually  running  up 
the  blade  of  the  Sword  to  reach  her  be- 
trothed, a  symbol  — surely  a  suggestive 
one  —  of  the  fact  that  power  to  accom- 
plish duty  brings  duty  immediately,, 
urgently  before  us.  From  that  urgency 
comes  Shibli  Bagarag's  temptation.  In 
emerging  from  the  abeyance  life  of 
the  Pillar  — the  dormant  recesses  of  the 
will  —  into  the  urgency  of  immediate 
duty  —  in  running  along  the  Sword  to 
meet  her  betrothed  —  Noorna  encount- 
ers much  danger.  Doubts,  difficulties, 
tumults  of  thought  arise  in  Shibli  Bag- 
arag.  His  strength  and  weakness  are 
in  conflict;  but  notice,  for  the  point 
is  in  his  favor,  'tis  through  his  strength 
he  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  his 
weakness.  Formerly,  when  he  was 
quite  unfit  to  shave  Shagpat,  the  task 
seemed  to  him  easy;  but  now  in  the 
light  of  the  Sword  which  qualifies  him 
for  the  shave  he  perceives  it  to  be  a 
task  of  appalling  magnitude,  beset  with 
difficulties  and  dangers  past  computing. 

195 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

His  very  fitness  for  the  work  is  thus  a 
mirror  revealing  to  him  his  unfitness. 
Humility  of  this  nature  —  the  humility 
which  is  the  concomitant  of  true 
strength  —  does  indeed  in  some  sort 
expose  a  man  to  danger.  But  't  is  a 
saving  danger;  were  Shibli  Bagarag  not 
exposed  to  it  he  would  be  exposed  to 
worse.  As  to  the  precise  nature  of  his 
experiences  nothing  need  be  said.  The 
Kite,  the  White  Ball,  the  Red  Serpent  — 
these,  to  be  sure,  might  readily  be  given 
some  more  or  less  definite  meaning  by 
relating  them  to  the  powers  which  res- 
pectively overcame  them.  But  it  will 
be  better  — more  in  harmony  with 
Meredith's  design  —  to  leave  them  in 
their  suggestive  indefiniteness.  Note 
only  that  the  powers  which  overcame 
them  were  Faith  (Koorookh),  Self- 
denial  (Gulrevez),  and  Providence,  per- 
haps here  better  called  the  Grace  of 
God  (the  Sons  of  Aklis).  Are  not  these, 
these  alone,  the  powers  by  which  man 
overcomes  temptation?  Could  Meredith 
have  described  in  more  Christian  fash- 
ion the  helps  that  avail  in  spiritual 
warfare  .'* 

The  temptation  next  to  be  considered, 

196 


TEMPTATION 

that  described  in  the  Allegory  of 
the  Veiled  Figure,  was  not  an  interplay 
between  strength  and  weakness;  it 
was  strength  unprotected  by  weakness, 
tempted  so  to  run  riot,  overreach  itself, 
and  become  itself  weakness.  One's 
difficulty  in  regard  to  this  Allegory  is 
not  to  discover  but  to  speak  on  its 
meaning.  Shibli  Bagarag's  experience 
was  here  an  essentially  ineffable  one. 
Only  as  standing  outside  it,  looking  at 
it  from  the  aloofness  of  intellectuality, 
is  speech  at  all  possible.  Then  indeed 
so  magically  rich  is  the  Allegory,  into 
such  variety  of  intellectual  settings  can 
its  truth  be  put,  that  the  difficulty  might 
be  to  put  a  limit  on  speech.  I  shall 
merely  state  the  broad  meaning  of  the 
Allegory. 

A  seer  in  his  first  flush  of  seership 
is  apt  to  set  eternity  over  against  time 
to  the  dwarfing  of  time's  affairs;  after- 
wards when  his  seership  is  ripe  he  finds 
eternity  in  time  to  the  enriching  of 
time's  affairs.  Shibli  Bagarag  is  new 
to  the  uses  of  seership.  It  is  his  con- 
version morn.  He  does  not  overvalue, 
cannot  overvalue,  the  wonderful  spir- 
itual   treasure    that   has    come    to    him; 

197 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

but  in  the  light  of  it  he  grossly  under- 
values all  else.  The  world  and  the 
things  of  the  world  appear  to  him  as 
nothingness;  meaning  and  value  quite 
knocked  out  of  them.  This  is  a  danger 
incident  to  profound  spiritual  exper- 
ience. It  is  perhaps  inevitable  that  a 
man  on  his  first  awakening  to  the  re- 
ality of  spiritual  things  should  be  seized 
with  the  conviction  that  the  world  and 
its  concerns  are  Rabesqurat,  illusion. 
The  conviction  carries  danger  in  it.  He 
who  thinks  the  affairs  of  time  meaning- 
less has  necessarily  a  shallow  outlook 
into  eternity.  He  who  turns  his  back 
on  the  world,  scouting  it  as  Rabesqurat, 
is  living  in  a  spiritual  vacuum,  with  the 
devil  of  pride  for  company.  The  man 
of  mature  and  rightly  developed  spirit- 
uality flashes  his  Sword,  not  to  peer 
through,  but  to  enrich  and  illumine  the 
Veil.  Giving  forth  of  his  own  reality 
unto  Rabesqurat  he  perceives  her  to 
be,  not  an  idle  and  delusive  show,  but 
a  mystery  replete  with  the  wisdom  and 
subservient  to  the  purposes  of  God. 
But  spirituality,  though  the  ultimate 
unifier,  begins  in  antagonisms.  Shibli 
Bagarag's   great   treasure    does   not    en- 

198 


TEMPTATION 

rich;  it  dwarfs,  knocks  meaning  and 
value  out  of  life.  The  Sword,  given 
him  to  help  the  world,  has  revealed  to 
him  that  the  world  is  not  v/orth  helping. 
Had  the  Sword  been  first  used  to  shave 
Shagpat,  we  may  be  sure  it  would  have 
shed  a  kindlier,  if  not  less  piercing  light 
on  Rabesqurat;  for  he  only  can  sanely 
criticise  the  world  who  is  actively  en- 
gaged in  helping  it.  As  it  is,  Shibli 
Bagarag  brings  his  knowledge  of  spir- 
itual values  to  bear,  not  helpfully,  but 
antagonisingly  on  world-life —  just  the 
danger  incident  to  his  condition  as  one 
"born  again." 

What  the  Veiled  Figure  is  no  man 
knows;  it  seems  fated  that  those  who 
seek  to  know  shall  behold  in  it  Rabes- 
qurat. It  is  a  discovery  carrying  pen- 
alty with  it.  A  healthy  life  is  after  all 
one  lived  on  the  surface  of  things. 
This  fair  phenomenal  world,  this  magic 
realm  of  appearances  is  not  with  im- 
punity to  be  shattered  by  human 
thought.  "Whom  God  deceives  is  well 
deceived."  They  who  think  not  to  let 
even  God  deceive  them  are  made  pay 
a  penalty.  In  the  case  of  philosophers, 
the  penalty,  let  it  be  admitted,  appears 

199 


DOINGS   OF   THE   SONS   OF  AKLIS 

trifling.  It  is  possible  for  them  to  prove 
that  life  is  Maya,  illusion,  and  after  due 
smack  of  self-gratulation  at  the  clever- 
ness of  their  proof,  to  return  to  life 
and  its  concerns  with  undiminished 
zest.  But  it  is  not  by  the  fierce  light 
of  the  Sword  philosophers  peer  at  the 
Veiled  Figure;  rather  by  the  mild  light 
of  academic  thought,  light  oftimes  with 
the  soot  of  vanity  in  it.  No  conclusion 
so  reached  is  likely  to  interfere  with 
digestion.  But  let  us  do  them  justice. 
There  have  been  philosophers  w^ho 
took  their  own  discovery  badly,  were 
affected  by  it  even  unto  pessimism. 
As  having  peered  behind  the  Veil, 
and  seen  the  nameless  sight,  these 
sad  initiates,  wisdom-blighted  ones, 
took  on  them  to  become  garrulous 
preachers  of  despair.  But  surely  of 
all  cants  this  cant  of  dilettante  pes- 
simism—  outcome  for  the  most  part 
of  intellectual  snobbishness  —  is  the 
worst.  Men  of  action  are  seldom  pes- 
simists, yet  properly  speaking  none 
but  men  of  action  can  be  pessimists. 
Only  when  a  man  peers  at  the  Veiled 
Figure  by  the  flashing  of  the  Sword 
is  he  frozen  into  horror;    peered  at  by 

200 


TEMPTATION 

other   light   he    is   but    quickened    into 
garrulity. 

Shibli  Bagarag  is  not  a  man  of  action 
diverted  at  a  critical  moment  in  his 
career  to  the  exercises  of  philosophy; 
nor  is  he  a  Hamlet-like  mortal  indus- 
triously spinning  a  network  of  sophis- 
tries wherein  to  entangle  his  will.  He 
is  a  seer  blinded  by  his  own  seership. 
As  man  of  action  it  was  certainly 
binding  on  him  to  enquire  into  the 
value,  the  reality  of  such  definite  phen- 
omena as  from  time  to  time  he  had 
to  deal  with.  But  this  was  not  an 
enquiry  into  the  reality  of  definite 
phenomena;  it  was  an  enquiry  into  the 
reality  of  phenomenal  life  altogether, 
a  facing  of  the  ultimate  problem  as  to 
whether  the  Veiled  Figure  that  ferried 
on  the  waters  of  time  was  not  in  its 
very  essence  Rabesqurat.  Yet  enquiry 
is  not  the  right  word  to  use  here.  The 
case  with  Shibli  Bagarag  merely  was 
that  in  the  light  of  his  own  spiritu- 
ality, his  passionate  reality,  he  looked 
at  the  Veiled  Figure,  the  Mystery  of 
Life,  and  that  there  burst  upon  him  — 
he  could  not  himself  well  tell  how  — 
the  ghastly  revelation  that  all,  good  and 

201 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

bad  in  it  alike,  was  illusion.  It  was 
intuition,  illumination,  flash  of  the 
Sword  of  thought.  No  spiritual  catas- 
trophe could  have  been  more  complete. 
Coming  as  it  did  w^hen  he  w^as  on  the 
eve  of  battle,  body  and  soul  of  him 
braced  for  great  enterprise,  his  whole 
strength  suddenly  toppled  over  and 
became  weakness.  His  consuming 
earnestness  landed  him  in  indifference, 
his  heroic  struggle  after  reality  in  the 
squalid  conviction  that  life  was  illusion. 
As  by  a  stroke  of  evil  magic  the  man, 
just  when  he  seemed  at  his  strongest, 
was  suddenly  converted  into  a  limp, 
listless,  altogether  pitiable  creature. 
Such  abrupt  and  tragic  reactions  are 
not  uncommon  in  life,  and  though  they 
take  widely  different  forms,  they  are 
all  traceable  to  the  same  psychological 
principle.  They  come  from  peering 
through  some  Veil,  discovery  of  some 
paralysing  truth.  The  main-spring  of 
the  altruism  of  Timon  of  Athens  was 
a  subtle,  but  not  ignoble,  egoism.  He 
believed  his  lavish  gifts  were  but  in- 
vestments, money  lodged  in  the  Bank 
of  Gratitude,  for  which,  though  he 
never  thought  to  ask  it,  interest  at  any 

202 


TEMPTATION 

time  would  be  available.  But  when 
on  peering  through  the  Veil  of  human 
nature,  he  discovered  he  had  been  cher- 
ishing an  illusion,  his  love  toppled  over 
on  the  other  side,  became  snarling,, 
vitriolic  hate.  Love  which  expects 
nothing  would  not  be  subject  to  such 
reactions.  It  could  pour  itself  forth  and 
suffer  no  check  from  the  baseness  of 
its  beneficiaries.  But  this,  while  it  may 
seem  nobler,  is  really  not  so  noble  as 
exacting  love.  In  any  case  it  was  not, 
could  not  in  the  nature  of  things  have 
been  Shibli  Bagarag's  love.  He  had  to 
expect  something  from  the  world,  could 
not  labour  to  help  it  unless  as  cherish- 
ing such  expectation.  When  a  man  in 
setting  about  the  work  of  patching  an 
old  garment,  discovers  the  garment  to 
be  so  rotten  that  it  cannot  hold  the 
thread,  there  is  necessarily  an  end  to 
his  patching.  So  with  Shibli  Bagarag 
—  he  who  thought  to  patch,  reform  the 
world.  Had  he  been  a  man  to  find 
content  in  other-worldliness,  he  might 
at  this  crisis  have  found  unholy  healing 
for  his  sorrow.  But  it  was  to  help  this 
world,  not  to  personally  equip  himself 
for  the  other  he  had  sought  the  Sword; 

203 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

no  private  comfort  could  he  take  in  the 
thought  of  other-worldHness.  In  that 
respect  Shibli  Bagarag's  nobihty  did 
not  forsake  him.  The  case  with  him 
is  that  he  is  in  a  state  of  spiritual  dis- 
ease in  which  there  is  no  baseness. 
Lament  his  condition  we  may;  ser- 
iously blame  him  for  it  we  cannot.  It  is 
his  strength,  unprotected  by  weakness, 
that  has  proved  his  undoing.  It  is  his 
seership,  untutored  by  its  limitations, 
that  has  made  him  blind.  This  exper- 
ience also  was  appointed  unto  the 
much-disciplined  man,  but  there  is 
hope  that  it  will  pass.  Dilettante  des- 
pair fattens  with  the  years,  but  real  des- 
pair cannot  live  long.  All  the  good 
influences  of  life  are  in  conspiracy 
against  it.  The  experience  may  prove 
to  the  ultimate  enrichment  of  Shibli 
Bagarag's  soul.  He  has  often  been 
tripped  by  his  weakness  before,  but  this 
tripping  of  him  by  his  strength  may 
teach  him  a  more  watchful  humility, 
a  deeper,  sadder  wisdom  by  far. 

For  a  time  he  is  not  to  be  helped, 
but  Abarak,  his  faithful  companion, 
does  what  he  can.  Two  hairs  —  em- 
blems   of   twin   strengths  —  are   still    on 

204 


TEMPTATION 

the  hero's  wrist,  spared  to  him  by 
Gulrevez.  These  Abarak  loosened,  and 
behold  they  took  the  form  of  Genii, 
"sons  of  brilliance,"  acknowledging 
themselves  so  as  "slaves  of  the  Sword." 
The  meaning  seems  to  be  that  Abarak 
sought  to  restore  Shibli  Bagarag  by 
stirring  up,  making  appeal  to  the 
strength  he  knew  to  be  in  him.  The 
result  was  to  some  degree  successful. 
The  youth's  genius  flashed  into  ac- 
tivity, radiated  strength  and  brilliance, 
but  alas,  it  was  all  non-personal.  The 
man  was  not  in  it.  "Slaves  of  the 
Sword"  indeed  were  the  Genii,  but  the 
Master  of  the  Sword  was  asleep,  had  no 
commands  to  give.  In  happier  circum- 
stances the  Hairs  would  have  been 
allowed  to  remain  quietly  on  Shibli 
Bagarag's  wrist  until  he  had  emerged 
from  Aklis,  the  time  for  their  trans- 
formation into  Genii  being  when  the 
Master  commenced  his  campaign 
against  Shagpat.  But  Abarak  was  fain 
to  try  the  experiment  of  awakening  the 
man  by  means  of  his  own  strength. 
The  result  was  that  he  awoke  the 
strength   but  not   the   man. 

The  way  of  resolute  will  —  which  was 

205 


DOINGS  OF  THE  SONS  OF  AKLIS 

the  way  of  the  Seventh  Pillar  — being 
thus  blocked,  Shibli  Bagarag  had  to  be 
let  dreamily  drift,  make  return  to  active 
life  by  plunging  down  through  falling 
waters;  and  drowning  would  have  been 
his  doom  but  that  Noorna  was  there  to 
receive  him.  It  was  through  the  bird 
Koorookh's  inability  to  pronounce  her 
betrothed's  name  that  Noorna  made  the 
discovery  that  he  had  peered  through 
the  Veil,  and  "bore  now  a  name  that 
might  be  uttered  by  none."  So  far  as  this 
mighty  emblem  has  speakable  meaning, 
this  seems  to  be  its  meaning.  When 
the  consciousness  of  eternity  flashes 
across  the  unripe  soul,  it  obliterates  the 
consciousness  of  personality.  Man 
loses  grip  of  himself,  knows  himself  as 
but  a  drop  lost  in  the  ocean;  his  name, 
the  symbol  of  his  selfhood^  cannot  be 
uttered.  This  was  Shibli  Bagarag's 
awful  condition.  By  his  vision  of  time 
and  the  things  of  time  in  the  overpow- 
ering light  of  eternity,  he  lost  healthy 
grip  of  his  own  identity.  His  faith  in 
the  reality  of  his  own  selfhood  tottered. 
The  bird  Koorookh  could  not  utter  his 
name. 

The   sleep   in   the  bosom   of   Noorna 

206 


TEMPTATION 

which   restored   Shibli   Bagarag  to   his 
active  self  is  a  beautiful  Allegory,  but 
so  simple  that  it  scarcely  needs  inter- 
pretation.    His  ambition  which  in  the 
past  had  woven  itself  into,  made  itself 
his  life,  slowly  re-awoke  within  him  — 
a  reason-restoring,  vivifying  influence. 
It  was  a  dream,  could  not  for  a  .time 
be   more.     The   man's    thoughts    were 
upheaved,  broken  loose,  scattered  into 
eternity;    they  had  slowly  and  uncon- 
sciously  to    co-ordinate   themselves   a- 
fresh,   and   'twas   round    Noorna,    she 
who    had    been    the    spring    of    all   his 
activity,  that  they  co-ordinated,  recover- 
ing health  and  sanity  so.     The  healing 
process   happily   completed   itself,   and 
Shibli  Bagarag  was  himself  again.    Yet 
never  quite  the  same;    none  who  peer 
through  the  Veil  can  ever  again  be  the 
same.     Something  had  entered  his  life 
that  could  not  be  banished,  and  some- 
thing had  passed  from  it  that  could  not 
return.  Henceforth  we  see  in  him  a  great, 
stern,  resolute  man,  wise  and  unflinch- 
ing in  his  ways;  but  gone  were  the  buoy- 
ancy,  the   light-heartedness,   the   sweet 
and    dewy   grace   of   earlier    days.     He 
carried  in  his  heart  a  dowry  of  sadness. 

207 


THE   BALDNESS    OF   SHAGPAT 


PLOTTINGS 


A  MAN  who  fights  for  duty's  sake, 
and  with  no  lust  of  battle  in  him, 
may  be  the  best  of  men,  but 
scarcely  the  best  of  soldiers.  The  war- 
instinct  —  the  Call  of  Battle  enthusiasm 
—  in  however  purified  a  form,  may  be 
merely  the  survival  of  man's  brute 
heritage,  yet  nothing  so  far  accruing 
to  him  from  his  other,  nobler  heritage 
can  quite  take  its  place.  Duty  — the 
spur  of  the  will  — is  nobler,  but  not  so 
ready,  so  spontaneous  in  its  strength, 
as  instinct  — the  spur  of  the  blood. 
Hence  however  it  be  with  Shibli  Bag- 
arag  as  a  man,  as  a  soldier  he  is  ser- 
iously weakened  by  the  loss  of  that 
third  in  the  Trinity  of  Strengths,  sac- 
rificed to  Gulrevez  in  purgation  of  his 
vanity.  But  for  that  loss  Noorna  de- 
clared "earth  could  have  planted  no 
obstacle"  to  her  lover's  stroke.  Not 
that,  as  it  is,  the  reformer  conducts  his 

211 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

campaign  listlessly;  his  sense  of  duty 
is  too  strong  for  that.  But  there  is  a 
deliberation,  an  uninspired  caution  in 
his  nriethods,  w^hich  the  Avar-enthusiasm, 
were  it  still  his,  might  have  worthily 
redeemed  by  flash  of  brilliance  and 
open  daring.  In  nothing  does  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment  count  for 
more  than  in  battle,  and  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  far-seeing  and  elaborate  plot- 
tings  seem  to  leave  him  too  little  open 
to  such  inspiration.  Still  his  plottings, 
on  their  ow^n  level,  are  not  unworthy 
of  the  much  disciplined  man.  As  is 
fitting  they  are  conducted  unostenta- 
tiously; he  himself,  now  happily  free 
from  the  itch  for  publicity,  keeping  in 
the  background.  Without  cruelty  yet 
also  without  mercy  is  he  to  his  fol- 
lowers, considering  only  what  service 
each  man  can  render,  appointing  him 
to  that  service  regardless  of  the  ten- 
derness of  his  skin.  Shall  he  who 
himself  has  endured  thwacks,  is  ready 
to  endure  them  again,  shrink  from 
endangering  the  skin  of  others?  By 
Allah,  't  were  a  weakness  unworthy  of 
the  Master.  How  to  win  the  battle  is 
Shibli    Bagarag's    first    thought;     after 

212 


PLOTTINGS 

that,  and  only  so  far  as  consistent  with 
that,   how  to   spare   the   soldier. 

The  "Plot"  calls  for  little  interpreta- 
tion. It  is  not  such  a  plot  as  in  its 
entirety  ever  was  or  could  be  put  into 
operation,  and  to  that  extent  it  must 
be  pronounced  unconvincing.  But 
Allegory  would  be  falling  below  its 
own  level  did  it  attempt,  even  in  prac- 
tical matters,  to  embody  the  prosaically 
practical.  Its  realm  is  the  realm  of  prin- 
ciples; its  function  to  present  fact  in 
the  form  of  truth,  to  unshell  the  fact 
and  give  us  the  kernel.  While  leaving 
untouched  most  of  the  details  of  the 
"Plot,"  I  make  such  references  as  seem 
necessary. 

It  is  by  the  ruthless  exploitage  of 
Baba  Mustapha  that  the  plot  is  worked 
out.  Baba,  both  by  his  strength  and 
weakness,  is  eminently  adapted  for  the 
purpose.  He  is  not  a  man  of  faith; 
but  so  colossal  is  his  self-conceit  it 
simulates,  and  that  not  badly,  many  of 
faith's  functions.  Were  it  possible  that 
counterfeit  strength  could  be  converted, 
by  mere  quantitative  magnificence,  into 
genuine  strength,  Baba  would  indeed 
be  a  man  to  be  reckoned  with.    But  it 

213 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

is  not  possible;  and  the  man's  virtues 
are  tawdry  at  best,  and  subject  to 
sudden  collapse.  If  his  self-importance 
prompts  him  to  undertake  great  tasks, 
his  pettiness  of  spirit  betrays  him  to 
failure  in  the  midst  of  them.  To  stand 
conspicuous  in  the  forefront  of  things, 
doing  nothing  in  the  noisiest  possible 
manner;  to  pose  and  fuss  and  gabble 
in  the  belief  that  he  is  the  centre  of 
movements  and  the  controller  of  men  — 
that  is  Baba  Mustapha.  In  further 
justice  admit  him  to  be  a  persuasive 
and  prolific  theorist,  professor  in  all  its 
branches  of  the  science  of  reform. 
Into  Avhatever  country  Baba  enters 
there  he  proposes  reform.  He  is  for 
shaving  everybody  and  everything, 
carries  tackle  for  the  purpose,  and  in- 
ventions, lathering  preparations  of  his 
own,  guaranteed  infallible.  It  is  this 
brilliant  fool  whom  Shibli  Bagarag,  he 
who  has  learned  to  "study  men,"  ruth- 
lessly exploits.  Clearly  it  is  impossible 
for  such  a  man  as  Baba  to  co-operate 
with  the  Master,  enter  intelligently  yet 
subserviently  into  his  plans.  Hence 
since  he  scorns  to  become  a  servant, 
he  suffers  the  indignity  of  being  made 

214 


PLOTTINGS 

a  tool;  is  led,  blindfolded  by  his  own 
vanity,  whithersoever  the  Master  wills. 
He  jumps  at  the  proposal  that  he 
should  shave  Shagpat,  become  himself 
Master  of  the  Event.  When  he  fails, 
as  to  be  sure  he  does,  care  is  taken 
that  the  Shagpatians  are  fully  informed 
of  the  matter.  The  result  —  and  this 
was  the  object  of  the  plot  — is  that  they 
become  vaingloriously  convinced  that 
Shagpat  is  inviolable  as  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Unseen.  And  truly  the 
power  to  which  Shagpat  owed  protec- 
tion w^as  after  its  sort  an  unseen  power, 
being  none  other  than  a  Flea.  As 
symbol  the  Flea  must  be  pronounced 
perfect.  It  stands  for  life's  petty  wor- 
ries, those  little  everyday  annoyances 
which  distract  man's  attention,  hinder 
him  in  his  work.  They  abound  every- 
iwhere  assail  everybody  —  that  sort  of 
Flea;  but  the  man  of  passionate 
earnestness  is  scarcely,  if  at  all,  con- 
scious of  their  attentions.  Bite  they 
never  so  assiduously  they  cannot  dis- 
turb him  in  his  work.  Baba  Mustapha 
—  the  shallow,  vanity-inspired  one  —  is 
tortured  by  the  Flea,  cannot  because 
of  it  come  at  Shagpat  with  his  razor; 

215 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

but  Shibli  Bagarag  —  the  deep,  resolute 
man  — no  complaint  of  Fleas  does  he 
make.  Is  not  this  as  good  a  test  as 
any  of  the  greatness,  the  work-outcome 
of  a  man?  If  you  let  life's  distractions, 
its  innumerable  petty  worries,  break  in 
upon  and  defeat  your  industries  —  by 
that  token  know  yourself  among  the 
weaklings,  those  from  whom  good 
work  cannot  come.  Like  Baba  Must- 
apha,  in  such  case,  you  will  likely  be 
a  mighty  gabbler  about  your  work, 
your  schemes  and  determinations,  but 
like  him  also  you  will  be  defeated  by 
a  Flea.  All  but  a  few  are  so  defeated. 
It  is  the  power  of  the  microscopically 
small  that  has  ever  to  be  feared.  Great 
temptations  may  summon  man  to  him- 
self, call  forth  correspondingly  great 
resistance;  but  small  temptations,  as 
being  small,  put  man  off  his  guard. 
When  Satan  acts  as  vetoist  it  is  in  the 
form  of  a  Flea  that  he  acts;  not  openly 
forbidding  man  to  do  good,  but  dis- 
turbing him,  frittering  away  his  time, 
eating  into  him  with  life's  round  of 
petty  distractions.  One  has  only  to 
look  back  on  his  past,  witness  the 
failures     with     which     his     years     are 

216 


PLOTTINGS 

strewn,  to   confess  to  the  mighty,  life- 
consuming  power   of  the   Flea. 

So  vainglorious  have  the  Shagpatians 
become  that  they  no  longer  think  of  de- 
fending Shagpat  against  the  attentions 
of  barbercraft,  rather  they  challenge 
barbercraft  to  do  its  worst.  Baba 
Mustapha  is  compelled,  in  presence  of 
King  and  people,  to  make  fresh  at- 
tempts on  Shagpat's  head.  Again  he 
suffers  defeat,  but  not  this  time  by  the 
Flea.  It  is  by  a  wonder,  even  the 
Burning  of  the  Identical,  defeat  now 
comes.  As  first  meaning  of  the  Allegory 
the  Burning  of  the  Identical  is  to  be 
taken  as  the  symbol  of  the  spiritual 
terrors  of  Shagpatism.  Shagpat  does 
not  need  the  scimitars  of  the  King's 
guard  to  defend  him.  An  emergency 
has  but  to  arrive  to  prove  that  his  real 
strength  lies  not  in  the  secular  arm, 
but  in  his  own  spiritual  terrors.  At 
opposition,  touch  of  would-be  reform- 
er's razor,  there  has  but  to  be  a  Burning 
of  the  Shagpatian  Identical  —  a  wrathful 
display  of  spiritual  authority  —  and  the 
would-be  reformer  is  hurled  back 
"sprawling  and  spuming  and  uttering 
cries  of  horror."    How  often  in  the  past 

217 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

has  the  Burning  of  the  Papal  Identical 
flared    over    Christendom,    a   portent,   a 
thing    of    terror,    even    as    that    magical 
Hair  on  the  head  of  Shagpat!    To  this 
day    indeed    when    the    Papal    Identical 
burns,  it  is  a  might  and  a  miracle   on 
earth,  millions  of  hearts  acknowledging 
the  terrors  of  it.    All  offices  and  author- 
ities  may    exhibit    this   burning    of    the 
Identical,  for  all  in  essence  are  spiritual. 
All  men  also  may  exhibit  it;  and  indeed 
it    is    when    that    spiritual    might    and 
mystery  which  is  the  essence  of  one's 
manhood   asserts   itself,   flares   forth   in 
its    majesty,    that    the    Burning    of    the 
Identical     becomes     veritable     miracle, 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  the  Un- 
seen.    It  need  not  be  in  wrath  that  the 
Identical  burns.     Its  mightiest  burnings 
are  the  burnings  of  love,  and  these  are 
the  burnings  which  endure  and  subdue. 
From  Christ  on  the  Cross  did  there  not 
arise    a   holiest,    fiercest    flame  —  reveal- 
ment  of  that  immortal  energy  of  Love 
which   was   and   is   the   Identical   of  all 
Identicals,  even  the  Divine?   The  world 
is  still  burning  in  that  flame,  will  burn 
in    it    till    all    is    purified.     Understand 
therefore     that     the     burning     of     the 

218 


PLOTTINGS 

Identical  is  simply  a  manifestation  of 
essential  selfhood.  Under  ordinary 
conditions,  alike  in  the  case  of  men 
and  institutions,  the  essential  selfhood 
is  never  quite  revealed,  often  as  not 
indeed  it  seems  quite  hidden.  But 
some  great  occasion  arises,  and  the 
man  or  institution  stands  discovered. 
For  good  or  evil  the  light  shines,  the 
Identical  burns,  and  you  have  your 
revelation.  In  Shagpat's  case  the 
Burning  of  the  Identical  is  best  to  be 
compared  to  the  Spiritual  terrors  of 
Rome  before  which  many  brave  men 
have  fallen  back  "sprawling  and  spum- 
ing and   uttering   cries   of   horror." 

The  success  of  Shibli  Bagarag's  plot 
is  marked  by  the  temper  of  the  Shagpat- 
ians.  Behold  the  madness  to  which 
they  have  reached  !  They  want  to 
prolong  a  miracle,  turn  a  miracle  into 
a  show.  They  want  to  put  God's  grace 
—  for  such  they  think  it  — on  exhibition, 
keep  it  in  operation  for  sensational 
purposes.  This  Baba  Mustapha  is  a 
renowned  barber,  is  he  ?  None  on  earth 
more  skilful  in  the  science  of  barber- 
craft.^  Then  he's  just  the  man  for  us. 
Compel  him  to  make  another  and  yet 

2ig 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

another  attempt  on  Shagpat.  That  will 
keep  the  miracle  going;  an  excellent 
thing  for  the  establishment  of  the  faith; 
an  excellent  thing  also  —  but  that  is  by 
the  way  — for  the  prosperity  of  our 
city,  and  of  us  its  worthy  citizens.  Was 
it  not  insanity?  To  invite  danger  in 
order  to  give  divine  grace  its  oppor- 
tunity is  to  tempt  God,  and  to  tempt 
God  is  to  court  sorrow.  Faith  protects 
from  evil,  but  when  faith  degenerates 
into  presumption  it  is  itself  a  great  evil. 
God  may  take  your  part,  but  never  in 
the  spirit  of  a  partisan.  He  is  on  your 
side  so  long  only  as  you  are  on  his 
side.  If  in  a  great  emergency  a  great 
mercy  has  been  vouchsafed  you,  do  not 
provoke  a  similar  emergency  in  the 
expectation  of  receiving  a  return  of  the 
mercy,  for  God  will  not  be  traded  on. 
Shibli  Bagarag's  plottings  have  been 
terribly   successful. 

Was  he  justified  in  pursuing  such 
plots,  practising  on  his  enemies  in  this 
fashion?  This  is  really  to  ask  whether 
y/^ar  itself  is  justified,  for  war  is  essen- 
tially a  game  of  wits  rather  than  of 
gunpowder.  But  Shibli  Bagarag  was 
not  at  war  in  any  other  than  the  sense 

220 


PLOTTINGS 

that  Luther  was  at  war.  His  enemies 
were  his  friends.  It  does  not  matter. 
The  prophet  can  afford  to  be  candid, 
but  the  practical  reformer  can  seldonx 
afford  to  be  altogether  so.  How  far 
and  in  what  sense  he  may  "employ 
deceits"  and  yet  keep  his  honour  un- 
tarnished is  a  large  question,  unnecess- 
ary to  be  discussed  here.  But  was  not 
Shibli  Bagarag  by  his  deceits  working 
injury  to  the  souls  of  these  Shagpat- 
ians,  basing  his  victory  on  their  moral 
deterioration,  their  spiritual  insanity  — 
and  do  the  ethics  even  of  war  justify 
that.'*  The  ethics  of  war  certainly  do 
not  justify  that.  The  general  who 
debases  his  enemy  in  order  to  prepare 
idefeat  for  them,  is  w^aging  war  on 
humanity  itself.  Shibli  Bagarag  would 
be  defeating  his  own  friendly  purposes 
towards  the  Shagpatians  were  he  guilty 
of  this  detestable  thing.  The  case  with 
him  however  merely  is  that  he  pro- 
vokes his  opponents  to  feed  fat  on 
their  own  folly,  in  the  hope  that  the 
after  effects  of  the  feast  may  wean  them 
from  their  folly.  He  encourages  their 
infatuation,  lets  their  disease  come  to 
a  head  in  order  the  more  speedily  and 

221 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

effectively  to  cure  it.  It  is  often  the 
only  way  both  with  physical  and  spir- 
itual troubles;  and  Shibli  Bagarag's 
plot,  his  "deceits"  when  fully  enquired 
into  are  seen  to  have  meant  nothing 
worse  than  this.  All  the  same  it  must 
be  admitted  that  one's  moral  instincts 
revolt  against  the  employment  of  even 
such  deceits  for  such  purposes,  and  that 
to  educate  one's  instincts  into  the  re- 
quired liberalism  would  be  to  run  the 
risk  of  tampering  with  and  weakening 
them.  But  it  is  by  grappling  with  such 
problems,  working  them  out,  not  with 
tortuous  casuistry  but  in  the  light  of 
that  law  of  laws,  which  is  the  law  of 
love,  that  man  attains  unto  spiritual 
freedom. 


222 


BATTLES 


IT  has  been  previously  mentioned,  as 
a  guiding  principle  of  Meredith's 
work,  that  events  in  it  are  arranged 
not  according  to  their  time-relations, 
but  according  to  their  thought-rela- 
tions. That  principle  must  be  borne  in 
mind  in  our  study  of  Shibli  Bagarag's 
great  fight  with  Shagpat.  In  the  Alle- 
gory the  fight  is  represented  as  coming 
at  the  end,  forming  the  dramatic  con- 
clusion, the  crowded  climax  of  the 
reformer's  career.  As  matter  of  fact 
since  the  hour  of  his  betrothal  to 
Noorna,  he  was  always  in  some  manner 
fighting  Shagpat.  This  chapter  therefore 
really  represents  not  a  part  of  his 
career,  but  his  entire  career  viewed  in 
its  battle  aspect.  He  did  not  delay  his 
fight  till  he  had  gained  the  Sword;  for 
indeed  he  gained,  could  only  gain  the 
Sword  by  and  in  the  fight.  At  first 
a  small  weapon,  it  grew  and  increased 

223 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

mightily  in  his  hands,  till  men  knew 
it  to  be  the  veritable  Sword  of  Aklis. 
Be  it  understood  then  that  just  as  the 
Quest  of  the  Spells  represents  Shibli 
Bagarag's  career  in  its  disciplinary, 
wisdom-seeking  aspect,  so  the  battle  — 
the  Flashes  of  the  Blade  —  represents 
his  career  in  its  aggressive,  Shagpat- 
reforming  aspect;  and  that  with  him, 
as  with  Luther,  these  two  ran  side  by 
side. 

The  account  of  the  fight  is  altogether 
allegorical;  and  for  point,  rapidity, 
condensation,  it  is  wonderful  Allegory. 
Every  detail  here  carries  meaning,  but 
to  some  of  the  more  important  only 
will  it  be  necessary  to   refer. 

Three  times  the  blade  flashed  harm- 
less, seemingly  harmless  lightning;  at 
the  fourth  only  was  Shagpat's  head 
touched,  partly  shaved.  These  flashes 
were  not  empty  displays,  purposeless 
preliminary  flourishes  that  might  have 
been  dispensed  with.  In  every  Re- 
formation the  blade  must  flash  before 
it  strikes.  How  often  before  it  struck 
did  Luther's  Sword  flash  what  seemed 
harmless  lightning  over  Papacy.  Shag- 
pat   slept   soundly,   undisturbed   by   the 

224 


BATTLES 

flashing;  he  on  whose  head  at  that  time 
rested  Rome's  Magical  Hair  slept  also, 
but  not  quite  so  soundly.  'T  is  recorded 
that  he  muttered  in  his  sleep,  as  if 
troubled  by  a  pestilent  dream,  com- 
plaining of  a  "squabble  among  monks." 
"  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows 
before."  If  it  is  the  unexpected  that 
happens,  it  is  because  we  are  unskilful 
readers  of  signs,  for  always  in  world- 
movements  the  Sword  flashes  before  it 
strikes.  In  the  French  Revolution  did 
not  the  mighty  Sword  then  at  work 
flash  and  flash  before  it  struck  to  the 
destruction,  the  sweeping  away  of 
things  that  were?  King  and  nobles 
knew  not  till  too  late  what  the  flashing 
portended,  and  so  their  doom  came  on 
them. 

But  always  besides  the  Flashes  of 
the  Blade  there  is  darkness  preceding 
great  events.  The  darkness,  be  it  noted, 
spake  saying  "I  am  Abarak  of  the  bar, 
preceder  of  the  Event."  In  all  his  re- 
lations Abarak  represents  will-power; 
here,  as  I  think,  it  is  not  individual 
will-power,  but  the  will  of  the  people 
he  must  be  taken  to  represent.  The 
will  of  the  people  constitutes  the  riddle 

225 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

of  destiny,  the  darkness  into  which 
those  who  would  forecast  events  must 
struggle  to  peer.  On  the  eve  of 
great  events  the  thundercloud,  the 
portentous  darkness  which  Abarak  is, 
speaks;  but  few  can  interpret  the  voice 
beyond  knowing  that  there  is  threat  in 
it,  prediction  of  the  coming  of  some 
new,  maybe  monstrous  thing.  Hence 
men  confront  the  future  with  wild  fore- 
bodings, their  "hearts  failing  them  for 
fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things 
that  are  coming  on  the  earth."  The 
universal  panic  of  the  hour,  its  uncer- 
tainties and  alarms,  are  symbolised 
hyperbolically  in  the  Allegory  by  fierce 
animals,  creatures  of  the  desert,  crowd- 
ing from  all  quarters  into  the  city, 
tamed  by  terror.  It  is  a  feature  pre- 
ceding every  great  crisis  in  history, 
every  "end  of  an  age"  this  terror, 
foreboding,  darkness;  and  always  it  is 
Abarak,  the  will  of  the  people,  which  is 
the  darkness.  Could  a  nation  see 
into  that  darkness  it  would  behold  its 
destiny. 

Noorna  also  appears  before  the  King, 
pleading  for  the  life  of  Abarak  and 
Feshnavat.       "  Delay     the     stroke     yet 

226 


BATTLES 

awhile  O  head  of  the  magnanimous. 
I  am  she  claimed  of  Shagpat;  surely  I 
am  bride  of  him  that  is  Master  of  the 
•Event,  and  the  hour  of  bridals  is  the 
hour  of  clemency."  Nooma  — the  idea 
of  shaving  Shagpat  —  surely  the  King 
and  all  men  were  familiar  with  her, 
knew  of  her  betrothal  with  Shibli 
Bagarag.  But  hitherto  none  permitted 
themselves  to  believe  that  betrothal 
would  end  in  marriage.  The  idea  of 
shaving  Shagpat,  they  fain  thought, 
would  remain  an  idea,  nothing  more, 
to  the  world's  end.  Now  the  signs  of 
the  times  — the  flashes  and  the  darkness 
—  put  them  in  doubt.  The  betrothal 
may  after  all  be  destined  to  be  con- 
summated; nay  judging  by  these  rap- 
idly accumulating  omens  the  hour 
which  is  to  see  the  shaving  of  Shagpat 
is  about  to  strike.  Things  being  so  it 
occurs,  is  suggested  to  the  King  that 
it  might  be  wise  to  spare  Feshnavat 
and  Abarak,  for  why,  if  the  Star  -of 
Shibli  Bagarag  is  in  the  ascendant, 
provoke  him  by  the  death  of  his 
friends.^  "The  hour  of  bridals  is  the 
hour  of  clemency."  But  the  King 
hardens   his   heart.     Even    at   this   late 

227 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

hour  he  thinks  to  stave  off  the  threat- 
ened danger  by  energetic  severity. 
Feshnavat,  Abarak,  all  enemies  of  Shag- 
pat  must  die.  So  may  Shagpat  yet 
triumph.  Since  this  is  the  King's  policy 
Shibli  Bagarag  must  meet  it,  and  that 
immediately,  by  policy  equally  ener- 
getic. The  time  for  negotiation  is  past. 
The  Sword  flashes,  not  this  time 
harmless  lightning,  but  to  the  striking, 
shaving   one   side   of  Shagpat's   head. 

"As  the  moon  sits  on  the  midnight" 
so  sits  Shibli  Bagarag  on  Koorookh, 
and  the  bird's  vast  wings  "overshadow 
the  entire  land."  It  is  a  symbolical 
description  of  the  man  who,  through 
possession  of  large  assurance,  strong- 
winged  ambition,  dominates  his  age. 
Master-spirits,  great  men  of  action  may 
differ  in  other  qualities,  but  one  and 
all  they  sit  on  Koorookh,  achieving  so 
their  tasks.  And  it  is  "as  the  moon  sits 
on  the  midnight"  that  they  sit;  a  regal 
light  in  the  darkness,  ruling  and  illum- 
ining the  darkness.  The  grandeur,  the 
poetic  truth  and  beauty  of  the  emblem 
must  be  manifest.  The  world  contains 
no  finer  picture  of  those  great  men, 
master-spirits   who    come    to    the   front 

228 


BATTLES 

in  dark  and  troubled  times,  and  to 
whom  men  turn  for  guidance  as  in- 
stinctively as  they  turn  to  the  moon 
in    midnight. 

Notice  that  Shibli  Bagarag's  success 
was  like  to  prove  his  undoing.  The 
blood  of  his  enemies,  when  he  cleaved 
them  with  the  Sword,  proved  fire,  flow- 
ing "over  the  feathers  of  Koorookh, 
lighting  him  in  a  conflagration."  Suc- 
cess, especially  if  come  by  early  and 
easily,  is  like  to  be  the  forerunner  of 
folly  and  failure.  It  sets  Koorookh  on 
fire;  makes  man's  faith  in  himself  and 
his  star  excessive;  gives  rise  to  that 
"  vaulting  ambition  which  o'erleaps 
itself,  and  falls  on  the  other  side." 
Shibli  Bagarag  escaped  this  danger. 
Koorookh,  when  in  conflagration  "flew 
constantly  to  a  fountain  of  earth  below, 
and  extinguished  it."  To  name  the 
fountain  with  a  name  covering  all  its 
meaning  would  be  difficult,  and  is  un- 
necessary. It  represents  that  saving 
consciousness  of  the  limitations  of 
man  and  the  uncertainties  of  fortune 
which  moderates  one's  confidence  in 
his  destiny,  keeps  him  on  the  lines  of 
sanity.    It  is  the  water  of  humility;  and 

22g 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

in  it  the  bird  Faith,  after  every  victory, 
must  bathe,  lest  it  be  consumed  by  the 
fires  of  presumption.  For  lack  of  this 
bathing  it  was  that  Napoleon  perished. 
His  Koorookh,  plentifully  drenched  in 
the  blood  of  his  enemies,  went  thereby 
on  fire,  a  very  conflagration  of  pre- 
sumption. His  faith  in  his  star  became 
a  magnificent  madness,  urging  him  to 
attempt,  enabling  him  for  a  time  seem- 
ingly to  achieve  the  impossible.  But 
in  the  end  it  betrayed  him  and  laid  him 
low.  Had  his  Koorookh,  when  on  fire, 
but  stooped  for  cooling  to  the  "fountain 
of  earth  below,"  surely  Napoleon's  fate 
would  have  been  different.  But  if 
"nothing  succeeds  like  success,"  noth- 
ing also  may  fail  like  success.  Failure 
indeed  is  inevitable  unless  humility 
increases  in  proportion  as  victories 
accumulate. 

Queen  Rabesqurat  proved  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  most  dangerous  enemy  in  battle. 
"The  terrible  Queen  streamed  in  the  sky 
like  a  red  disastrous  comet  ....  and 
lo,  there  were  suddenly  a  thousand 
Shagpats  multiplied  about,  and  the 
hand  of  Shibli  Bagarag  became  ex- 
hausted   with    hewing    at    them."      In 

230 


BATTLES 

all  political  warfare,  battles  of  reform, 
misrepresentation  plays  a  mighty  part. 
It  matters  not  that  the  reformer  has 
studied  deep  into  the  social  question, 
laid  his  finger  unerringly  on  the  root- 
grievance,  the  dominant  injustice  of 
the  day;  in  actual  warfare  it  can  hardly 
be  but  that  time  and  again  he  will  suffer 
confusion,  make  war  on  shadows.  As 
dominating  his  age  the  reformer  is 
necessarily  more  than  most  men  sen- 
sitive to  its  influence;  indeed  he  is  the 
common  receptacle  wherein  its  in- 
numerable wisdom-mongers  aspire  to 
deposit  their  wisdom.  The  inherent 
perplexities  of  the  problem  are  aggra- 
vated for  him  by  this  babeldom  of  con- 
flicting counsel.  All  sections  of  society 
admit  that  something  is  grievously 
wrong,  that  some  Shagpat,  monstrous 
in  hairiness,  is  blighting  the  world; 
but  as  to  what  this  Shagpat  really  «is 
scarcely  any  two  sections  are  in  agree- 
ment. The  reformer  is  pelted  with 
conflicting  opinions,  not  all  of  them 
honest  and  disinterested.  For  real 
Shagpatians,  perceiving  that  he  is 
already  working  on  dangerously  right 
lines,    deliberately    invoke    the    aid    of 

231 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

Rabesqurat,  the  "lying  spirit,"  in  order 
to  lead  him  astray.  Falsehoods,  mis- 
representations, illusive  Shagpats,  are 
multiplied  by  the  thousand.  The  re- 
former's energies  are  exhausted  with 
hewing  at  lies  —  surely  the  most  weari- 
some, discouraging,  disgusting  part  of 
his  work.  But  it  is  work  he  cannot 
escape,  for  when  Satan's  kingdom  is 
attacked  Queen  Rabesqurat,  his  best 
ally,  never  fails  to  "stream  in  the  sky 
hke    a    red    disastrous    comet." 

Notable  is  the  help  little  man  Abarak 
renders  Shibli  Bagarag  in  this  battle 
against  lies.  He  threw  a  pellet  on  the 
eye  of  Aklis  "and  this  sent  out  a 
stretching  finger  of  beams  and  singled 
forth  very  Shagpat  from  the  myriad  of 
resemblances."  It  is  unnecessary  to 
consider  whether  it  was  in  his  indi- 
vidual capacity,  or  as  spokesman, 
representative  of  the  popular  will  that 
Abarak  rendered  this  aid,  for  in  truth 
it  was  in  both  capacities.  There  are 
occasions  w^hen  the  dunce  can  help  the 
•genius,  help  him  better  indeed  than 
could  a  brother  genius.  Abarak's 
downrightness  of  purpose,  his  limita- 
tions  in   point   of   intellect,   saved   him 

232 


BATTLES 

from  many  of  the  confusions,  the  cross 
currents  of  thought,  which  perplexed 
Shibli  Bagarag.  It  was  not  advice;  it 
was  a  palpable  something  — a  pellet,  a 
fact,  which  the  little  man  threw  at  the 
perplexed  reformer.  That,  better  than 
any  subtlest  argument,  dispelled  the 
reformer's  fantasies,  clarified  his  vision, 
gave  him  grip  of  realities  again.  As 
Baalam,  in  the  matter  of  spiritual  vision, 
his  strong  point,  was  surpassed  and 
put  to  shame  by  his  ass,  so  did  it 
happen  here.  Shibli  Bagarag's  strength 
was  to  see  facts,  make  facts  speak,  yet 
in  this  point  of  strength  Abarak,  the 
dull  one,  the  aforetime  slave  of  Rabes- 
qurat,  puts  him  to  shame.  It  often 
happens  so  in  life.  The  lessons  taught 
a  man  by  his  inferiors  are  lessons 
which,  if  he  learns  at  all,  he  learns  thor- 
oughly. Experience  does  not  remove 
the  boundaries  and  distinctions  set  up 
by  thought,  but  it  sometimes  pitches 
us  unceremoniously  over  them.  There 
is  doubtless  a  vast  difference  between 
the  dunce  and  the  genius,  yet  know 
them  better  and  you  may  frequently 
have  occasion  to  wonder  which  is 
dunce   and   which   genius. 

233 

p 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

Notice  the  trick  Shibli  Bagarag  played 
on  Rabesqurat.  He  "put  the  blade  be- 
tAveen  the  first  and  second  thought  in 
the  head  of  Rabesqurat,  so  that  the 
pense  of  the  combat  became  immed- 
iately confused  in  her  mind,  and  she 
used  her  power  as  the  fool  does,  equally 
against  all,  for  the  sake  of  mischief 
only."  The  meaning  seems  to  be  that 
Shibli  Bagarag  turned  the  tables  on  his 
enemies,  confused  by  the  subtlety  of 
his  tactics  their  sense  of  the  position 
of  affairs,  as  they  had  for  a  time  con- 
fused his.  Even  had  there  been  no 
subtlety  on  his  part  this  was  what 
y/-as  likely  to  happen.  Queen  Rabes- 
qurat seldom  remains  long  mistress  of 
her  own  illusions.  Whatever  effect 
they  may  have  on  others,  it  is  certain 
that  his  own  lies  confuse  the  liar.  In 
every  prolonged  battle  fought  out 
largely  with  the  artillery  of  falsehood, 
the  combatants  end  by  unwittingly 
turning  their  artillery  against  them- 
selves. Lies  may  keep  their  ranks  and 
mind  their  drill  for  a  time,  but  sooner 
or  later  they  get  out  of  hand,  prove 
anarchic  soldiers,  spreading  confusion 
in  both  camps.   Men  will  cease  shooting 

234 


BATTLES 

if  in  doubt  whether  it  is  friend  or 
foe  they  are  shooting  at,  but  in  similar 
circumstances  they  will  not  cease  lying. 
On  the  contrary  it  is  then  they  will 
lie  most  industriously.  Queen  Rabes- 
qurat  was  no  longer  mistress  of  her 
own  illusions,  but  she  did  not  on  that 
account  cease  to  produce  illusions. 
While  her  head  was  clear  she  lied 
cautiously;  when  it  became  confused 
she  lied  at  random,  prolifically.  When 
she  thus  uses  her  powers  "as  the  fool 
does,  equally  against  all,"  by  that  token 
know  that  the  truth  is  about  to  prevail. 
When  Noorna  saw  how  sorely  Shibli 
Bagarag  was  put  to  it  in  the  fight,  she 
cried:  "Yea  though  I  lose  my  beauty 
and  the  love  of  my  betrothed,  I  must 
join  in  this  or  he  '11  be  lost."  This 
daring  Allegory  deals  w^ith  a  great 
matter,  and  forms  a  fitting  climax  to 
the  whole  work.  Shibli  Bagarag's  path 
to  victory  has  all  along  been  paved  with 
sacrifice.  Every  bit  of  strength  that  is 
in  him  is  the  strength  that  comes  of 
sacrifice.  By  a  great  self-surrender  it 
was  that  he  gained  the  Sword,  and  now 
nothing  but  a  perilously  greater  sur- 
render  can   make   the   Sword   effective. 

235 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

Noorna  must  enter  the  fight  and  take 
the  risk.  To  understand  what  this 
means  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that 
Noorna  has  grown  immensely  since  our 
first  meeting  with  her.  Merely  as  a 
living  idea,  engaging  Shibli  Bagarag's 
thoughts,  she  must  have  grown;  but 
as  a  duty,  engaging  not  his  thoughts 
only  but  his  activities,  the  growth  has 
been  great  and  of  happiest  quality.  It 
is  not  reading  into  her  an  overstretch 
of  meaning  to  say  that  she  now  repre- 
sents, in  the  widest  sense,  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's holy  of  holies,  that  in  him  which 
is  and  which  he  would  fain  keep  wholly 
pure.  When  the  point  of  pride  with 
a  man  has  to  do  with  his  character,  it 
is  generally  Pharisaism,  moral  faddism, 
bringing  him  some  good  maybe,  but 
certainly  much  evil.  But  when  it  has  to 
do  with  his  work,  the  struggle  to  rightly 
accomplish  his  work,  it  is  a  seed 
of  genuine  nobility,  having  in  it  the 
potency  of  happiest  growth.  If  a  man 
is  proud  of  his  Noorna,  strives  to  keep 
her  clean  and  beautiful,  she  in  return 
may  make  him,  the  whole  of  him,  clean 
and  beautiful.  So  is  it  with  Shibli  Bag- 
arag.     He  owes  his  nobility  to  Noorna. 

236 


BATTLES 

All    of    it    is    inspired    by    and    centres 
round  her.  Were  she  to  cease  to  be  his 
dearest,    worthiest    pride,    what    pride, 
what    support    would    remain?     It    be- 
hoves him   therefore  as  he   values  his 
soul's   health    to    keep    Noorna    out    of 
risks.     Behold  her   on   the   contrary   in 
the  midst  of  risks,  exposed  in  battle  to 
the  venom  of  that  scorpion  whose  sting 
is  fatal  to  beauty.     It  would  be  giving 
the  Allegory  a  too  facile  interpretation 
to    say    that    it    merely    means    that    in 
their    practical    working    out    a    man's 
ideals   must   lose   their   virginal   bright- 
ness,   take     on     some     stain     of     com- 
promise.    Neither  would  it  be   enough 
to  say  that  in  the  stress  of  battle  —  the 
entanglements     and      compulsions      of 
practical  affairs  —  a  man  inevitably  falls 
somewhat   away  from   his   own   purity, 
stumbles    into    actions     of    which    his 
conscience,  in  calmer  moments,  cannot 
approve.    The  Allegory  means  that,  but 
surely  it  means  vastly  more.  It  shadows 
forth  a  last  and  noblest  sacrifice  made 
by  Shibli  Bagarag  for  his  cause.     If  in 
the  nature   of   things   the   sacrifice  was 
not     altogether     deliberate  —  the     thing 
sacrificed  being  in  a  sense  deliberation 

237 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

itself  — it  only  shows  at  what  price  of 
perilous  nobility  victory  was  purchased. 
If  a  man  keeps  thinking  of  himself, 
puritanically  watchful  of  his  soul's 
health,  preferring  rather  to  lose  his 
cause  than  that  his  soul  should  suffer 
stain  in  the  winning  of  it,  then  he  is 
not  yet  ripe  for  victory.  He  must  throw 
himself  with  selfless  abandonment  into 
the  fight,  holding  nothing  back,  keep- 
ing nothing  in  reserve.  Noorna  even, 
his  soul's  treasure  must  enter  the  battle, 
and  take  the  risk.  This  was  the  case 
with  Shibli  Bagarag,  and  in  regard  to 
it  let  no  question  of  casuistry  be  raised; 
for  in  truth  the  man  was  on  a  plane 
of  thought  nobly  removed  from,  exalted 
above  casuistry.  It  was  not  a  case  of 
debating  within  himself  whether  or 
how  far  he  would  be  justified  in  doing 
evil  that  good  might  come;  it  was  a 
case  of  abandonment,  disregardfulness 
of  self,  willingness,  if  necessary,  to  im- 
peril his  own  soul  in  order  to  achieve 
his  great  purpose.  "I  could  wish," 
said  St.  Paul,  "that  I  myself  were  ac- 
cursed from  Christ  for  my  brethren's 
sake";  and  a  similar  ultra  heroic  spirit 
on  the  part  of  Shibli  Bagarag  is  what 

238 


BATTLES 

is  signified  by  Nooma  entering  the 
battle,  risking  the  scorpion's  sting  to 
help  her  betrothed. 

But  behold  the  sequel  to  this  great 
abandonment.  No  pleasure  could  Shibli 
Bagarag  take  in  victory,  when  it  came 
to  him,  because  that  Noorna  "was  with- 
ering from  a  sting  of  the  scorpion  shot 
against  her  bosom."  The  sting  of  the 
scorpion,  the  poisoned  memory  blight- 
ing that  in  him  which  was  holiest  and 
sweetest  —  what  matter  though  he  had 
come  by  it  through  utter  surrender  to 
his  cause  ?  He  need  not  have  come  by 
it.  Had  he  been  resting  aright  on  his 
strength  his  soul  would  have  been  safe, 
never  safer  than  in  abandonment  ; 
Noorna  could  have  entered  the  fight 
and  yet  escaped  the  scorpion.  If  Shibli 
Bagarag  has  done  wrong,  why  should 
he  not  suffer  the  consequence  of  his 
wrongdoing?  Even  the  sins  man  falls 
into  for  God's  sake,  God  will  punish; 
even  the  sting  Noorna  comes  by  in  the 
w^ork  of  self-denial  withers  her  beauty. 
Shibli  Bagarag's  peace  of  mind  is  gone. 
Success  is  poisoned  for  him  by  the 
sting  of  the  scorpion.  But  if  love 
washes      away     the     sins      committed 

239 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

against  herself,  much  more  will  she 
wash  away  those  men  stumble  into 
for  her  sake.  Noorna  is  conveyed  for 
nursing  and  healing  to  Gulrevez  in 
Aklis  —  Gulrevez  that  was  "alone  cap- 
able of  restoring  her  and  counteracting 
the  malice  of  the  scorpion  by  the  hand 
of  purity."  Thus  ministered  to,  Noorna 
in  due  time  returns  to  Shibli  Bagarag 
"fair  and  fresh  in  the  revival  of  health 
and  beauty."  Sins  prompted  by  genuine 
love  are  but  erring  virtues;  He  who  is 
Infinite  Love  will  correct  them  in 
mercy,  purge  them  from  the  venom  of 
the  scorpion,  and  receive  them  in 
beauty   unto   Himself. 


240 


SPOILS 


CONGRATULATIONS  to  Shibli 
Bagarag!  The  degree  of  Master 
of  an  Event,  highest  and  most-to- 
be  coveted  of  degrees,  has  at  last  been 
conferred  on  him.  The  candidate  for 
greatness  has  become  great,  God  and 
man  acknowledging  his  greatness.  No 
sham  crown  prematurely  snatched  by 
the  hand  of  vanity,  but  a  real  crown 
is  what  he  wears  now.  May  he  not 
therefore  at  last  settle  down  to  rest- 
fulness  and  the  blameless  enjoyment  of 
things.^  Holiday  rest  and  enjoyment 
certainly,  but  nothing  further;  never 
again  must  he  debase  his  head  with 
that  discarded  fool's  crown  "the  crown 
of  him  who  hath  achieved  his  ambi- 
tion and  resteth  here."  But  surely  if 
his  life-work  is  accomplished  there 
ought  to  be  some  sort  of  honourable 
superannuation  for  Shibli  Bagarag.  Im- 
possible.    There  is  no   superannuation 

241 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

for  the  man  who  loves  his  fellows. 
Not  even  if  he  is  a  spent  force,  worn 
out  with  much  toiling?  Impossible 
again.  The  man  who  loves  his  fellows 
is  never  a  spent  force.  Love  does  not 
fade  with  fading  bodily  powers,  and 
love  is  mightiest  of  forces.  It  is  said 
of  the  Apostle  John  that  in  his  last 
enfeebled  days  he  was  wont  to  have 
himself  carried  to  Church  in  a  litter, 
that  from  it,  as  from  the  most  revered 
of  pulpits,  he  might  whisperingly  preach 
to  the  people.  Such  as  John  could 
never  be  a  spent  force.  But  if  God  never 
superannuates  his  servants,  never  gives 
them  privilege  of  honourable  idleness 
in  return  for  work  done,  what  is 
Shibli  Bagarag's  reward  ?  Much  every 
way.  For  one  thing,  though  a  small, 
there  is  the  gratitude  of  his  fellows. 
To  live  on  the  gratitude  of  the  public 
is  indeed  next  to  living  on  its  alms; 
but  this,  Shibli  Bagarag,  the  erstwhile 
ass-eared  one,  is  watchfully  aware  of. 
No  longer  does  he  stay  himself  on 
public  favour,  reckon  it  among  his 
abiding  assets.  But  as  having  learned 
to  seek  the  approval  of  God,  he  is  in 
a    position    properly    to    estimate,    and 

242 


SPOILS 

therefore  blamelessly  to  enjoy  the  ap- 
proval of  men.  Also  in  the  treasures 
of  memory  he  finds  genuine  reward  of 
service.  Memories  grow  not  in  bulk 
only,  but  in  significance  with  the  years; 
the  time  comes  when  man's  compan- 
ionship is  mainly  with  his  own  mem- 
ories. It  is  a  great  matter  therefore  to 
Shibli  Bagarag,  a  rich  provision  laid  up 
in  store  for  his  age,  that  his  mind  is 
stored  with  noble  memories;  surely 
from  the  conning  of  them  not  boast- 
fulness,  but  charity,  mellower  wisdom, 
will  crown  his  after  days.  But  while 
the  delights  of  memory  are  permissible 
delights,  Shibli  Bagarag  must  not  suc- 
cumb to  them.  He  would  be  but  a 
dead  man  were  he  to  wander  among  the 
tombs  of  the  past  reading  its  epitaphs 
on  himself.  Not  as  one  wasteful  of 
thought,  brooding  over  the  achieve- 
ments of  bye-gone  days,  but  as  one 
living  in,  finding  the  fruits  of  the  past 
in  the  present,  must  the  reformer  seek 
his  reward.  It  is  in  the  betterment  of 
the  world,  the  glad  consciousness  that 
he  has  contributed  towards  its  better- 
ment, that  his  reward  lies.  In  the 
w^ords   of  the  poet: 

243 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

"The  blush  with  which  their 

folly   they   confess 
Is  the  first  prize  of  his  supreme 

success." 
A  prize  indeed  this  earthly,  yet  heaven- 
ly in  its  nature.  Put  it  that  no  material 
gains,  that  neither  honours  nor  recog- 
nition of  service  were  his,  would  it  so 
greatly  matter  when  the  world  is  given 
unto  him  for  reward?  He  has  but  to 
w^itness  its  emancipation,  its  leap  for- 
ward into  light,  to  find  recompense  for 
all  his  labours.  Additional  recompense 
is  his  in  that  he  is  now  secure  of  a 
larger  field  and  more  commanding 
opportunity  for  further  labour.  The 
world  never  deposes,  cannot  indeed 
depose  its  true  leaders.  Statesmen 
hold  office  by  the  will  of  the  people, 
but  reformers  of  the  Shibli  Bagarag 
type  by  the  will  of  God.  Therefore  he 
is  free  to  keep  at  the  front  of  things, 
not  witnessing  only  but  guiding  the 
world  in  its  progress.  It  is  a  great 
position  and  brings  proportionately 
great  care,  but  w^here  no  care  is  neither 
can  there  be  joy.  Man  cannot  afford 
to  part  with  his  cares  otherwise  than 
by   triumphing   over   them;     it  is  from 

244 


SPOILS 

them  that  by  the  alchemy  of  spirit 
he  extracts  all  his  purest,  most  abiding 
joys.  Precious  indeed  are  Shibli  Bag- 
arag's  spoils  of  victory;  surely  many 
ambitious  youths  are  nobly  envious 
of  him,  and  of  the  kingship  he  has 
achieved  among  men.  But  more  prec- 
ious by  far  than  these  is  the  music 
of  a  voice  speaking  in  the  ear  of  the 
reformer's  soul,  and  't  is  the  voice  of 
the  Divine  One,  the  "well  done  good 
and  faithful  servant"  of  the  Master! 

Thus  far  Shibli  Bagarag.  But  we 
also,  to  the  extent  that  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  interpreting  the  Allegory,  are 
entitled  to  look  for  spoils.  It  has 
doubtless  been  good  exercise  for  our 
teeth,  this  cracking  of  Meredithian  nuts; 
but  if  the  nuts  have  proved  empty  we 
will  consider  we  might  have  put  our 
teeth  to  better  use.  But  they  have  not 
proved  empty.  For  myself  I  make 
sorrowful  confession  in  regard  to  some 
of  the  daintiest  and  sweetest  of  these 
Meredithian  nuts  that  in  my  endeavour 
to  crack  I  have  but  clumsily  crushed 
them,  sadly  injuring  the  kernel.  But 
however  I  may  have  mangled  the  nuts, 
even   in   the   mangling   I   have   proved 

245 


THE    BALDNESS    OF    SHAGPAT 

they  are  not   empty,  and   that  is   some 
gain. 

That  my  gains  are  not  greater  — 
viewing  me  no  longer  as  nut-cracker  — 
is  not  wholly  my  fault,  for  indeed  they 
have  been  partly  filched  from  me  by 
magic.  I  always  knew  that  fruit  is 
never  so  sw^eet  as  w^hen  eaten  fresh  off 
the  bush;  and  when  I  designed  to  fill 
my  hamper  from  Meredith's  Garden  of 
Allegory,  I  reckoned  on  deterioration. 
Still  I  thought  that  as  carried  fruits  go, 
I  could  give  you  some  fair  samples  of 
the  produce  of  the  Garden.  But  alas, 
no  sooner  were  the  samples  placed  in 
my  hamper  than  I  noticed  them,  espec- 
ially the  best,  the  choice  clusters  of  sap 
and  beauty,  undergo  mysterious  deter- 
ioration. No  ordinary  deterioration 
was  it,  but  of  a  kind  to  vex  and  puzzle 
me,  set  me  viciously  chiding  my  own 
mishandling  of  the  fruit.  But  now  I 
know  the  secret.  The  land  of  Allegory 
is  an  enchanted  land,  and  the  law  of 
its  enchantment  is  that  all  fruits  car- 
ried out  of  it  suffer  magical  blight,  some 
indeed  being  in  a  moment  shrivelled 
into  saplessness.  Still  if  you  inspect 
my  hamper  you  may  find  some  samples 

246 


SPOILS 

which  have  suffered  less  than  others 
under  this  blight.  I  am  not  without 
hope  that  these  samples  may  please 
you,  maybe  even  induce  you  to  visit 
the  Garden  for  yourself,  that  you  may 
pluck  its  fruit  fresh  from   the   bush. 

My  last  word  is  no  figure  of  speech, 
but  a  plain  statement  of  a  profound 
conviction.  All  that  is  best  is  for  the 
young.  A  book  which  suits,  nobly 
meets  the  noble  needs  of  youth,  is  nec- 
essarily a  great  book.  "The  Shaving 
of  Shagpat,"  written  in  his  youth  by 
a  man  who  even  to  old  age  retained 
the  heart  of  youth,  is  so  pre-eminently 
a  book  of  this  quality  that  it  will  not 
have  come  by  its  own  until  it  is  taken 
as  a  vade  mecum  by  the  youth  of  the 
country.  It  is  a  gay  teacher  of  pro- 
found wisdom.  The  truths  it  teaches 
are  of  such  a  nature  that 

"Were  men   once   clothed  in 

them,  we  should  create 
A  race  not  following,  but  com- 
manding fate." 


247 


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